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The Equifax Chief Security Officer Received a BA and MFA in Music Composition

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Re: The Equifax Chief Security Officer Received a BA and MFA in Music Composition

#11

Post by subie »

floatingatoll wrote: post #9
subie wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't see what the problem is here. The massive breach of personal information.

I don't understand. Could you help me understand? I'm not able to see the connection you see between an MFA in Music and the Equifax breach, and I'll need you to describe it clearly in order to comprehend what you're trying to say here.

Equifax's Chief security officer may have had a lack of knowledge in the domain she was hired for(A very important role).

They ignored security warnings from Apache and now we have the fallout from the breach. So did the CSO's lack of security knowledge aide in the breach? If so that is on Equifax for hiring her into that role.

Re: The Equifax Chief Security Officer Received a BA and MFA in Music Composition

#12

Post by floatingatoll »

subie wrote: post #11
floatingatoll wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand. Could you help me understand? I'm not able to see the connection you see between an MFA in Music and the Equifax breach, and I'll need you to describe it clearly in order to comprehend what you're trying to say here.

Equifax's Chief security officer may have had a lack of knowledge in the domain she was hired for(A very important role). They ignored security warnings from Apache and now we have the fallout from the breach. So did the CSO's lack of security knowledge aide in the breach? If so that is on Equifax for hiring her into that role.

I'm unable to follow your logic here, as there's a missing component of the explanation.

How does the CSO's multiple degrees in Music convey a lack of knowledge in the domain she was hired for?

It doesn't, because there's no information to derive there. I believe you are attempting to construct an argument that says that an offtopic degree disqualifies her to be a skilled practitioner by default.

This is wrong. The topic of someone's degree has no implicit bearing on their work experience before and after it.

LinkedIn shows endorsements by tens of people at each of her jobs in the specific labels "Information Security", "Disaster Recovery", and "Business Continuity". By that basis, she is perfectly qualified to handle this breach.

Unfortunately, that information - which takes up as much or more screen space on her LinkedIn page than her dual degrees - wasn't considered relevant by the OP, and is being studiously ignored for some unknown reason.

Re: The Equifax Chief Security Officer Received a BA and MFA in Music Composition

#13

Post by phailhaus »

floatingatoll wrote: post #7
dreamcompiler wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't mean she didn't know what she was doing, but it certainly looks bad. A company whose CSO doesn't have a technical degree is going to have a harder time proving they took security seriously.

Would it be less offensive to the HN community if her degree was in Math? And, then, given that Music is entirely dependent on mathematical principles, and Music Theory especially: What are the chances that, as an MFA in Music, she has a rock solid background in mathematics? Does that make her choice of degree less distasteful? Would we be having this conversation if she had no degree? (Of course not.)

> What are the chances that, as an MFA in Music, she has a rock solid background in mathematics?

Unlikely? There is no standard math requirement for music majors, and that's pretty well known.

> Would we be having this conversation if she had no degree? (Of course not.)

Yes, even more so! A chief security officer with no degree presiding over the security of a nation's credit data?! I mean, she's already under scrutiny because Equifax has been hit by three big stories in the past couple weeks demonstrating their absolute lack of concern for security: the breach, the "random pins", the admin/admin credentials.

Re: The Equifax Chief Security Officer Received a BA and MFA in Music Composition

#14

Post by phailhaus »

Powerofmene wrote: post #10

Would the breach appear worse if her degree was in CS or not? Seems the HN community is trying to correlate her degree to the breach and this is virtually impossible. Her MFA did not cause the breach nor is their an identifiable correlation.

Optics. Equifax has pretty clearly demonstrated that it does not care at all about security. There was the breach, then the news that their "random PINs" were just timestamps, then there was the admin/admin credentials for an employee portal. It's a pretty bad look.

Re: The Equifax Chief Security Officer Received a BA and MFA in Music Composition

#15

Post by gaius »

floatingatoll wrote: post #12
subie wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Equifax's Chief security officer may have had a lack of knowledge in the domain she was hired for(A very important role). They ignored security warnings from Apache and now we have the fallout from the breach. So did the CSO's lack of security knowledge aide in the breach? If so that is on Equifax for hiring her into that role.

I'm unable to follow your logic here, as there's a missing component of the explanation. How does the CSO's multiple degrees in Music convey a lack of knowledge in the domain she was hired for? It doesn't, because there's no information to derive there. I believe you are attempting to construct an argument that says that an offtopic degree disqualifies her to be a skilled practitioner by default. This is wrong. The t…

LinkedIn shows endorsements by tens of people at each of her jobs in the specific labels "Information Security", "Disaster Recovery", and "Business Continuity". By that basis, she is perfectly qualified to handle this breach

LinkedIn endorsements are as meaningful as Facebook likes.

Re: The Equifax Chief Security Officer Received a BA and MFA in Music Composition

#16

Post by floatingatoll »

phailhaus wrote: post #13
floatingatoll wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would it be less offensive to the HN community if her degree was in Math? And, then, given that Music is entirely dependent on mathematical principles, and Music Theory especially: What are the chances that, as an MFA in Music, she has a rock solid background in mathematics? Does that make her choice of degree less distasteful? Would we be having this conversation if she had no degree? (Of course not.)

> What are the chances that, as an MFA in Music, she has a rock solid background in mathematics? Unlikely? There is no standard math requirement for music majors, and that's pretty well known. > Would we be having this conversation if she had no degree? (Of course not.) Yes, even more so! A chief security officer with no degree presiding over the security of a nation's credit data?! I mean, she's already under scruti…

Does it change your views if I restate this as (using just her public LinkedIn profile):

"A chief security officer with 15 years of experience and peer accolades in the fields of banking-grade security and human data management"

Typically, this is where most people don't even ask what a degree is. However, as you indicate "no degree" is unacceptable: Which domain-relevant degree programs, initiated 20+ years ago and completed 15 years ago, would satisfy your terms?

Re: The Equifax Chief Security Officer Received a BA and MFA in Music Composition

#17

Post by subie »

floatingatoll wrote: post #12
subie wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Equifax's Chief security officer may have had a lack of knowledge in the domain she was hired for(A very important role). They ignored security warnings from Apache and now we have the fallout from the breach. So did the CSO's lack of security knowledge aide in the breach? If so that is on Equifax for hiring her into that role.

I'm unable to follow your logic here, as there's a missing component of the explanation. How does the CSO's multiple degrees in Music convey a lack of knowledge in the domain she was hired for? It doesn't, because there's no information to derive there. I believe you are attempting to construct an argument that says that an offtopic degree disqualifies her to be a skilled practitioner by default. This is wrong. The t…

> LinkedIn shows endorsements by tens of people at each of her jobs in the specific labels "Information Security", "Disaster Recovery", and "Business Continuity"

You're right, She was qualified.

Re: The Equifax Chief Security Officer Received a BA and MFA in Music Composition

#18

Post by aslkdjaslkdj »

floatingatoll wrote: post #7
dreamcompiler wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't mean she didn't know what she was doing, but it certainly looks bad. A company whose CSO doesn't have a technical degree is going to have a harder time proving they took security seriously.

Would it be less offensive to the HN community if her degree was in Math? And, then, given that Music is entirely dependent on mathematical principles, and Music Theory especially: What are the chances that, as an MFA in Music, she has a rock solid background in mathematics? Does that make her choice of degree less distasteful? Would we be having this conversation if she had no degree? (Of course not.)

Math is not arithmetic. What are the odds she can prove basic theorems in undergrad math like rank-nullity or intermediate value?

Re: The Equifax Chief Security Officer Received a BA and MFA in Music Composition

#19

Post by floatingatoll »

gaius wrote: post #15
floatingatoll wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm unable to follow your logic here, as there's a missing component of the explanation. How does the CSO's multiple degrees in Music convey a lack of knowledge in the domain she was hired for? It doesn't, because there's no information to derive there. I believe you are attempting to construct an argument that says that an offtopic degree disqualifies her to be a skilled practitioner by default. This is wrong. The t…

LinkedIn shows endorsements by tens of people at each of her jobs in the specific labels "Information Security", "Disaster Recovery", and "Business Continuity". By that basis, she is perfectly qualified to handle this breach LinkedIn endorsements are as meaningful as Facebook likes.

Of course her LinkedIn profile does not correctly reflect her experience and qualifications.

Yet here we are, on Hacker News, with people calling her out for not having security experience based on her LinkedIn profile having an Art degree, rather than a Science degree.

I agree wholeheartedly with you that LinkedIn is as meaningful as Facebook. We absolutely should not be here evaluating her qualifications based on her LinkedIn profile. Any conclusions therein derived would be obviously wrong, by your own point.

Re: The Equifax Chief Security Officer Received a BA and MFA in Music Composition

#20

Post by PascLeRasc »

Music is incredibly intellectually challenging and stimulating. I'm getting a STEM degree because I couldn't handle a music degree. Music students I know work just as long if not longer days than I and my ECE peers do. This personal attack of the CSO isn't relevant.
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