I’m a trusting guy. I believe what people say when they say it.
Like my two-year-old daughter for instance. When she tells me that it was Cinderella — not her — that hit her younger sister with a giant lego block, I believe her.
The same goes for strangers. When some disheveled-looking dude with a twitchy eye and two scabby arms approaches me and says he needs money for a bus ride home, I believe him.
And Hollywood PR agents. When they say that a starlet with a mile-long arrest record is suffering from exhaustion and dehydration and that’s why she’s in the hospital, I believe them.
So consider my shock to learn that the S.C. Department of Revenue didn’t do diddly to protect our personal information from being stolen by hackers despite Gov. Nikki Haley’s insistence that there wasn’t anything the agency could have done to avoid this massive security breach.
Apparently, there was something the S.C. Dept. of Revenue could have done: They could have enlisted the services of the State Information Technology division to monitor their networks.
Now, you’re probably like me, you want to give Haley the benefit of the doubt. Yes, the Dept. of Revenue could have asked the State Information Technology division for help, but they just didn’t know about it. And thanks to Camden’s Sen. Vincent Sheheen we know that few if any state agencies actually turn to the State Information Technology to provide network monitoring services. Here they are:
Corrections
Public Safety
Social Services
Emergency Management
Employment and Workforce
Lander
OEPP
Human Resources
Probation
Parks, Rec, and Tourism
Blind
Criminal Justice Academy
Spartanburg Community College
Archives and History
Human Affairs
SLED
Forestry
Public Employment Benefit Authority
USC: Law Enforcement Division and Engineering School
VOCREHAB
ETV
Education
School for Deaf and Blind
State Library
Williamsburg Tech
Aeronautics
Agriculture
Budget and Control Board
Housing Authority
S.C. State
Treasurer
Worker’s Comp
Education Oversight
Business One Step
Public Service
Insurance
The Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities
Higher Ed
Consumer Affairs
DAODOS
DDSM
Juvenile Justice
Mental Health
Natural Resources
I know. I know. Clearly, this wasn’t a service that was widely known by state officials, and no one in the Dept. of Revenue is to blame for this massive, unforgivable fuck up.
I don’t know about you, but I still believe that Haley was right: the loss of 3.6 million Social Security numbers was simply unavoidable.
Editor’s Note: In total, 180 groups — from state departments to city and county governments to school districts — depend on the State Information Technology division to monitor their networks. Love Best of Charleston? Help the Charleston City Paper keep Best of Charleston going every year with a donation. Or sign up to become a member of the Charleston City Paper club.