jrogge, you’re trying to educate, so people realize the limits of pragmatism and the risks in careless use of tech.

I’m not seeing any disagreement there, because you’re on two different tracks (and in my opinion, both right).

I agree with that. The only point I am making is, when you do do that you are risking something. If it were a dire emergency and the system was down and there was no way to send an encrypted message to someone that needs it now, then you have no choice.

All I am saying is, when you use a "Yahoo" account you have a good chance of getting hacked and getting that information to the wrong hands. The world may not be perfect, but under normal circumstances this should be avoided. If you are a high profile public figure, it is probably best to avoid this sort of thing for this very reason. I would hate to think someone sent our President vital security information on an unsecured AOL chat or a Gmail account. I am hoping this never happened.

But you know what? The e-mail servers that handled the accounts weren’t always up and working. You can blame MS; you can blame the techs. Whichever was responsible, the systems were frequently down.

I had no qualms whatsoever about using my Yahoo e-mail to contact people to handle unclassified matters, particularly when the e-mail I was sending to had a .gov address. The message would be archived at one end instead of two, but it was archivable and, in the event of a FOIA request, searchable. Just not by me or my local techs. Otherwise, I could use a phone, but with an 8-hour time difference from DC, that wasn’t always useful.

If the classified e-mail was down, then I could either wait until it was up again or change to a scrambled phone if it was critical. There’s always somebody at the other end of that phone, 27/7.

Routine business can’t always wait until the system is up and running, particularly when you don’t know how long it will take before it to be up again. Sometimes, you have to actually do things, not just plan or talk about them. Giving confirmation that tickets are waiting for a flight tomorrow doesn’t work when the e-mail is down until two days from tomorrow. Sending a query that needs an immediate answer is not compatible with waiting for days for that answer. Telling someone that he shouldn’t get on a plane tonight is information that needs to move right now, not tomorrow.

As noted above, putting public systems out of bounds also means that no work gets done from home. Lots of work gets done from home.

I worked in a pretty secure office. I needed to punch in combinations in six different locks, including the elevator, on my way into my office, starting at the front gate. I had Marine Security Guards checking my office every night just to make sure I hadn’t left any classified materials out of the safes. I couldn’t have my cell phone in my office, couldn’t have a TV or radio, couldn’t even have a wall clock unless it was purchased under a secure protocol. PDAs were forbidden, even if they had no telephonic circuitry.

Diplomatic Security was very much on top of how our computers worked and didn’t work. They knew full well that public systems sometimes had to be used for official businesses. That didn’t bother them. They got bothered when classified information needed to be moved.

You see, even they had to face reality and use public systems sometimes, for some kinds of information flow. None of us was intentionally stupid about security and we knew what could and could not be said over open circuits. Since our home phones were bugged anyway, we also knew how to hint at the content of a sensitive message and then get to the proper device for the required level of security.

There was certainly no regulation forbidding the use of a public system to handle unclassified business. An e-mail from a .gov address to my personal address was accepted as being as authoritative as one to my .gov address because I was considered trustworthy as certified by my security clearance.

Could I have gamed the system? In some ways, certainly. There’s nothing, for example, that would prevent me from simply memorizing the contents of a classified cable, then retyping it in an unclassified e-mail. Except that I, and most of my government peers, had a sense of honor that wouldn’t permit us to do that. There were certainly punishments to be meted out after the fact if we did things like that, up to and including Leavenworth and hundred thousand dollar fines. But you know, most of us were decent people.

The ideal is wonderful. It’s sometimes attainable. When it isn’t, the world cannot push the pause button and wait until the IT folks get it all squared away.

John_B’s last blog post..Saudis Craft New Anti-Smoking Laws

There is no evidence that Palin used these email accounts for state business.  That too is pure speculation at this point.

Well, if you ever run for office, I guess you’ll be the one with two blackberries and two cell phones to your ear all the time.

More power to you.

CosmicConservative’s last blog post..Tennessee State Representative’s son targeted in Palin email hack probe

I don’t know, which criminal’s house?

Very far from proven yet. Don’t jump to conclusions. Did someone say "Hatfill"?

Yes.

Considering the attitude adjustment to security after 911 I would say yes to that. If you want to advocate laziness that’s fine. You could also say, shoot me an e-mail on that (we know which one).

If you want common sense, work in a factory. Don’t work for a bureau or government office. In these positions you sometimes have sensitive data and the line is provided to you for a reason. I am sorry you feel that issues of security do not outweigh simple convenience.

If you are dealing with sensitive information, even if it is a bill that is public knowledge, you risk much using a public line to discuss it.

I would guess that the majority of people on this blog have both a work and a home email address. I certainly do.

I try to keep the two separate, but I have also found it to be impossible to do so. In part that is because there is significant overlap between my professional and my personal circle of contacts. Plus I am not allowed to check my personal email while at work due to security concerns. (When I work from home I can do so since I have separate computers). So if someone wants to invite me to a lunch, they send my WORK email the invitation.

I would say that it is a rare week that I don’t have at least one significant personal exchange on my work email, and vice versa.

Trying to make an issue out of this is just a demonstration about how LITTLE the army of Obamatons actually have found to beat Sarah Palin with after three weeks digging under every moose dropping in Wasilla.

CosmicConservative’s last blog post..They just can’t help themselves?

Well, yeah isn’t that always the case? They haven’t learned yet to just make one up. It’s easier, and people will still believe it even if it is an obvious lie.