Posted on 09/16/2017 1:16:19 PM PDT by MarvinStinson
Susan Mauldin, whose identity is being scrubbed from the internet, studied music composition
When Congress hauls in Equifax CEO Richard Smith to grill him, it can start by asking why he put someone with degrees in music in charge of the company’s data security.
They might also ask him if anyone at the company has been involved in efforts to cover up Susan Mauldin’s lack of educational qualifications since the data breach became public.
And late Friday Equifax said both Mauldin and the company’s chief information officer have retired effective immediately.
Susan Mauldin’s LinkedIn page was made private and her last name replaced with “M.”
Equifax “Chief Security Officer” Susan Mauldin has a bachelor’s degree and a master of fine arts degree in music composition from the University of Georgia. Her LinkedIn professional profile lists no education related to technology or security.
This is the person who was in charge of keeping your personal and financial data safe — and whose apparent failings have put 143 million of us at risk from identity theft and fraud. It was revealed this week that the massive data breach came due to a software vulnerability that was known about, and should have been patched, months earlier.
Two videos of interviews with Mauldin have been removed from YouTube. A podcast of an interview has also been taken down.
A transcript of one interview has survived
In an interview I found, Mauldin said that in recruiting, “[w]e’re looking for good analysts, whether it’s a data scientist, security analyst, network analyst, IT analyst, or even someone with an auditing degree. ... Security can be learned.”
But she also said she focuses college recruitment, understandably, on “universities that have programs in security, cyber security, or IT programs with security specialties.” She did not mention music composition.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
PC ism at its worse.
How many millions of people were damaged by this music major?
My doctorate is in musicology; perhaps I can apply for the new opening.
Affirmative action strikes again...
This is beyond stupid. Just damn...
This is beyond stupid. Just damn...
Here is an article from a website I have never seen before ... The Liberty Conservative.
Equifax Chief Information Security Officer Was An Affirmative Action Hire
Sue them out of existence.
My daughter has a doctorate in musicology, and there's very little she can't either do or learn to do.
Music major for software, that is nothing.
Companies prefer H1-B foriegners who lie and fabricate their background on a fake resume. Cheap labor means quality & ability is overlooked.
I do not see an education in music composition as disqualifying, per se. I would be more curious about her background and work experience. If she's old enough to retire, when she started her career there were very few, if any, computer science majors offered, and probably no IT security majors.
It’s just unbelievable. Just about every US adult now has thier SS# with birthdate out there in God knows whose hands. For the rest of lives this will be a threat. The info is the keys. Over and over we are told to guard our SS# so now it’s out there somewhere. What a epic cluster bleep. Equifax should be de certified forever unfortunately the damage is done. Do we yet
have a clue who got the info?
But that is extremely, extremely rare. I'd say since Equifax will probably go broke due to a terrible security breach their music major didn't turn out to be an outlier like the guy I described.
Didn’t 2 CEO’s of equifax sell off their stocks right after this happened and before the public knew about it?
See my #11. I agree.
music major eh?
Oops I did it again
followed by Won’t get fooled again
I am not bothered by the fact that she is an art major. The reality is that Security was not a Major when she went to school. Its not a major now in most CS programs. While security is part of most CS programs. The real issue here is whether or not she had any control. Having a Security VP does not mean that she has any control over how the IT is run. She may just doll out passwords. And go to forums about security.
The reality is that the CTO is the guy who let in the hacker. Its his job to keep out the bad guys. Its the CFOs job to pay for up-to-date equipment and software. And its the CEOs job to allow the others to put in security processes and allow them to be enforced.
“The store employees wore shirts and ties and would give you scowl if you even slightly misbehaved. “
==
Whe I called my daughter,horrified by this music degree,she told me that music majors were commonly hired for computer stuff(my term,not hers)
That was a pleasant surprise to me.
.
Finally some sanity in this thread.
Thank you.
I would also add that I know many people who have worked in computer and network security and none of them have a degree in the field. They all do very well.
No system is 100% safe. That’s reality.
Do you know anything about computer security?
Aaaah, forget I asked. It wasn't necessary for the last holder of the position.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.