This aspect of the mushrooming shutdown seems to have flown under the wire(s) and I found it on the Tech part of the BBC News web site.
The shutdown means that security certificates on government web sites are not being renewed. See that little locked padlock next to the site name? It indicates you are on a more secure website also indicated by the preffix https:// at the start of the address. Many browser alert or even block such unsecured connections. There are also few staff available to deal with cyber attacks on all the government’s sites, including those dealing with national security.
The Department of Homeland Security's newly-created cyber-security and infrastructure security agency, is currently operating with less than half its staff, according to Suzanne Spaulding, a former official at the agency.
She said: "With each passing day, the impact of the government shutdown on our nation's security grows. Meanwhile, our adversaries are not missing a beat and the daily attacks on our systems continue. Cyber-security is hard enough with a full team. Operating at less than half strength means we are losing ground against our adversaries."
The lack of security certificates potentially endangers the data of all Americans. This is a snowballing problem as the shutdown continues and more expire. They can be valid for anything from three months to two years. The US Department of Justice’s web site has a certificate that expired the week before the shutdown started.
Security consultant Paul Mutton, writing in a blog for Netcraft, added: ….
"As more and more certificates used by government websites inevitably expire over the following days, weeks - or maybe even months - there could be some realistic opportunities to undermine the security of all US citizens.”
Domestically BBC News are showing “colour” items about the affects of the shutdown on individuals including:
- The TSA officer sending his kids off to school while worrying about the mortage payment coming due when he isn’t being paid, despite working.
- The soya bean farmer, already hit by China buying elsewhere, waiting for his subsidy check so he can plant his new crop and pay his workers.
- The owner of a craft brewery who cannot start brewing in his new extension because he has not been issued with a government brewing license.
A quick scan of US news sites did not pick up any similar pieces on the effect on the individual American but rather describing the overall situation. People do not relate to anonymous groupings. They do realise the implication for the guy down the road who works for the TSA, the farmers outside town or the local entrepreneur when they see real world examples.
The Trump shutdown is causing pain to millions of individuals and endangering the security of the country. I’d call that more of a NATIONAL EMERGENCY [sorry I just channelled Donny for a second] national emergency than a few hundred tired, hungry, homeless, tempest-tossed people yearning to breathe free huddled on the southern border.