Texas Comptroller Takes Responsibility for Breach
Texas Comptroller Susan Combs has announced another move to help the 3.5 million Texans who had their personal data exposed by her state office. Earlier initiatives to help Texans in the Teacher Retirement System, Employees Retirement System and Texas Workforce Commission provided discounted subscriptions to credit monitoring services. Now, Combs says she'll use campaign funds to pay for one year of credit monitoring and internet surveillance, along with identity restoration services. Combs talked with Ben Philpott, who covers state politics and policy for the Tribune and KUT News, about the data breach. You can hear the full interview ...
Comments (15)
Steven Phenix via Texas Tribune on Facebook
The buck stops ... (wait for it) ... here.
Tom Van Schaik via Texas Tribune on Facebook
good... then resign like the head of NPR was forced to do for something that didn't put a few million people at risk....
Luisa Newton via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I hear a drunk country confessional song here, "I let yer numbers out on the Internet, I work for Rick Perry and I f**ked up..."
Aldo Merino via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Not a fan of Combs, but good on her for claiming responsibility and paying for a full year of identity protection for those affected out of her campaign fund.
That said, I think two years should be the minimum given the trend lines on data exploitation in security breaches. It is, and was, a monumentally idiotic breach that was wholly preventable and there should be a thorough review of security policies and retraining of staff as needed.
I wish more public servants would follow suit (hi, Gov. Perry, re: Todd Willingham), and the media and public acknowledge such rare claims of wrongdoing and responsibility.
Kirsten Dietz Voinis via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Not sure this was supposed to be a funny story, but it sure made me laugh! Knowing she is "really, really sorry" makes me feel so much better!
Ron Grimm via Texas Tribune on Facebook
She had plenty of time to get alibis and excuses together after investigating, but chose, instead, to accept responsibility and make amends. I'm not happy that it happened, and heads should have rolled, but she's taking charge instead of blame-throwing. Way to go, Susan Combs!
John Doe
It's all my fault! That's why I fired four employees for it!
Ross Smith via Texas Tribune on Facebook
It's about time. And there's a difference between taking responsiblity and paying the price for the mistake. She takes responsibiltiy, we pay the price.
Doug House via Texas Tribune on Facebook
We'll also "pay the price" (by many powers of 10) for the obesity epidemic on Texas' ability to produce and attract business. Technology safeguards are suspect and growing everyday. Susan Combs recently brought you a concise evaluation of our obesity epidemic on Texas. Read it! Change your blame game! I see her as a person who is accepts her role and responsibilities for what they are. Please do the same.
Rebecca McIlwain via Texas Tribune on Facebook
What a mature response -- accepting responsibility and doing what can be done to help remedy the situation. I support that kind of attitude and action.
WUSRPH
It might have been "a mature response" IF Combs had said it when it was first revealed instead of hiding behind her paid mouthpieces for more than two weeks with absolutely no comment by Combs. What it is now is someone trying to get out from under the mess she created by refusing to stand up at the beginning....I guess it just takes a long, long, long time in her office for the "buck" to get to her desk!
Neil Sapper
The restitution money should come out Comptroller Combs' PERSONAL FUNDS, not her campaign slush fund money. The longer this awful mess turns in the wind, the worse it gets. And there is STILL NO ANSWER TO THE BIG WHY: Why were the data files placed on an unsecured server or servers? Who made that decision and why were the files uploaded? In the meantime, I sit and stew over the possibility that I will receive notice that fraudulent activity has occurred with my credit card or my bank account balances. Combs should face charges of criminal negligence, at a minimum, and she should be fined an open-ended amount for a restitution fund. In other words, her fine would be "as much as it takes" to make restitution.
Wilkins Micawber
Perhaps some good will eventually come from her finally acknowledging what many of us have known all along: that she is responsible for this mess.
However, you can't really be said to have taken responsibility until you have shared in the consequences of your mistake, and made amends. Until then, it's just talk.
Susan Combs seems to have made an earnest attempt to bring transparency to her office. Her biggest mistakes seem to be made whenever she lets her political ambitions get the better of her judgment. She could learn a lot about herself from this colossal blunder and come away from it a better public servant for the experience.
A Bennett
It seems that those individuals responsible for the security breach have resigned and that Combs is doing everything in her power to resolve the situation.
Neil Sapper
Combs, IMHO, is guilty of criminal negligence that has the potential to harm 3.5 MILLION TEXANS for the foreseeable future. To all who compliment this criminal, may your Name, Social Security Number, DL Number, and Address never be made available to cybercriminals. If your identity has been compromised and you still give the Criminal Comptroller a pass, pray that the Lord (of your choice) looks after fools. Otherwise, you're toast.