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0 pointsewoodrich12y ago0 comments

> It's not like US government suddenly has no money at all. It's a temporary technical issue with administering cash flows, and everybody knows it is temporary and everybody knows the bills will eventually be paid.

Sure, it may be temporary. But the most recent federal government shutdown (in '96) lasted 21 days. Which is certainly enough time for issues/vulnerabilities to appear. It's unlikely this one will last as long, but regardless, I don't find it beyond reason that an IT team being furloughed could determine that allowing an un-maintained, un-monitored, site to remain publicly accessible could pose a security risk, or provide out-of-date information that otherwise appears to be authoritative.

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3 comments · 2 top-level

smsm4212y ago· 1 in thread

What you mean "may be"? Do you seriously entertain a possibility that US government as of today has ceased to exist and US government bills will never be paid?

You must have misunderstood what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that there's absolutely no need to wait for 21 days for issues to appear, because the same people may do the same maintenance as always and there's absolutely no need to leave the site un-maintained. Of course, staff can be reduced - no new developments, no updates, no proofreaders, no marketing, no answering emails, etc. - to avoid taking too much un-budgeted obligations. But no one doubts there obligations will be repaid, so I don't see the issue here.

>>> provide out-of-date information that otherwise appears to be authoritative.

This is easily solved by putting one line on top of the page that says "All information is as available by 10.01.2013 and can be out of date". I admit, it's much less drama, but it's possible.

SolarNet12y ago

Besides the fact that it is illegal (http://www.bsnlawfirm.com/newsletter/OP0413_Natter.pdf) employees are NOT guaranteed to get their money. In the past congress has sometimes not provided backpay.

Also, if the website gets hacked, without sys-admins to fix it, the server's data could be corrupted or stolen, backdoors installed, ect.

abalone12y ago

> provide out-of-date information that otherwise appears to be authoritative

That's a good point. USDA data influences the financial markets in a big way all around the globe.

It's completely reasonable for them to not want to run such a critical site without anyone minding the store.

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