| | | >> Didn't Powell and others use personal email servers during the Bush Administration?
No. Powell used a "personal email address. Totally different thing.
If you have an address at gmail or yahoo mail or wherever, it is far more secure than a personal server in a closet at your home. Still wouldn't be recommended, and a lousy password choice could be a problem. Such servers are, at least, physically secured and use encrypted protocols with proper certificates and properly patched software. That is, the IT staff knows how to secure a server.
But as Michael Hayden pointed out, the personal server was the "original sin". There was a clear intent to relocate her email off-premises. To the extent it might have had classified data, that is against the law. At the very least it was gross negligence. But the sheer volume of the email made it almost certain at least some classified material would slip through. One cannot know whether incoming email is classified until it has been delivered to a server.
I have supported a good number of servers offsite. And while it is easier now than five years ago, the truth is that patches sometimes don't happen on schedule. Known vulnerabilities don't get handled, or don't get handled timely. There are no hard-core procedures in place meaning slip-ups happen.
Not long ago I logged into a client's server which had been set up and running for over a year. I discovered a folder I wasn't familiar with and didn't understand why it was there. After looking, I found that someone had been able to connect with admin rights though the Lab's user id -- a user id of LAB thoughtfully password protected with the password "lab". They had set up a bit torrent server on my customer's server -- a server located (in a closet) in a town of 3,000. Minor slip up but could have been a disaster had the server handled important information.
That would never have happened at gmail because there are procedures in place to protect against it.
This email thing is a very serious lapse of security and it appears to have been a result of arrogance and determination to subvert the requirements. Maybe they slap her on the wrist, but she cannot become president, even if it means President Trump. |
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