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> The UK's biggest force - London's Metropolitan Police Service - was among those that refused to share an up-to-date figure. > But in June it said about 10,00
by stupidcar 9y ago
> The UK's biggest force - London's Metropolitan Police Service - was among those that refused to share an up-to-date figure.
> But in June it said about 10,000 of its desktop computers were still running XP.
> "Disclosing further information would reveal potential weaknesses and vulnerability," the force's information manager, Paul Mayger, said.
So they're concerned enough about security not to disclose the number of XP machines, but not so concerned as to actually fix the problem.
- dx034 9y agoPublic services in the UK have faced severe budget cuts in recent years. Spending money for new software could very well have meant to have less police on the street. That's not an excuse to use unsafe systems but it can be an explanation. Public services don't work like companies, especially if they're forced to reduce their budget by 30% over a few years without neglecting their duty.
- guitarbill 9y agoOn the other hand, public services don't have a great track record for effectively spending IT budgets, and the managers who oversee all this barely have any accountability. So it's not too different from companies.
- dx034 9y agoI'd argue all large organisations have a bad track record for IT budgets. It's shocking to see the amounts large companies spend on outdated and ineffective IT systems, just because the vendor is large or the consultant likes it.
- dTal 9y ago"We can't tell you because it would reflect badly on us." You hear this sort of thing a lot from secretive bureaucracies.