After pestilence, come floods and fires.

[Varley]

I am sure a sympathetic thought is due for those in Europe and China for the extraordinary destruction in the flood affected regions of Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and China. Whether members here or not. I imagine those in the NW of the Americas are due the same for the fires and drought.

[Lancsman]

Hope some of the scammers were flooded out!

[Varley]

If Mother Nature only targeted those we consider guilty I would agree but that would be a silvery lining indeed. I think she has engineered a rather larger kill zone and we are all in it.

[MikeGDH]

Originally Posted by Lancsman

Hope some of the scammers were flooded out!

Yes, from ALL parts of the world!

[Varley]

Scammers and phishers and Huawei.

Just how far has our technology become inferior to that of others? We fund GCHQ. If we are to counter cybercrime by avoiding it why is not that the same as our 'protectors' being ineffective, or worse, workshy.

Much like anti-piracy, one of the prime duties of any state is to protect its supply lines and not to shoulder slope that duty onto the merchants doing the supplying. If GCHQ can't counter the menace than let's have some of the tax-take back so that this new and unsuitable policy can, at least, by financed.

[BobClay]

The obvious answer to that is they don't 'fund' it enough. It was pared to the bone at the end of the Cold War and many senior staff offered early retirement. Given the rapid advance in communications technology in general since, they are still suffering from that policy.

[Varley]

Wiki suggests the bright and shiny Doughnut postdates the cold war by quite a bit. Whatever. It is no different in this aspect to conventional piracy. The state is best equipped (you suggest inadequately which I must accept) to counter illegality. The consumer cannot excuse himself for being careless by leaving tempting openings in software or deck railings but to take on the regulation of the criminal beyond that can only be inefficient. I doubt it is cost effective either. Chancellors may swerve a call on their takings but the consumer pays more for the dilettante precautions commercial undertakings must employ. Forbid Huawei kit, pay more for the alternative. Don't protect commercial tonnage, pay more for everything it carries.

[BobClay]

The Doughnut is just a building. Also good quite modern buildings were sacrificed in order to build it. It certainly didn't make up for loss of staff. Lack of skilled staff became a serious issue and still is.

When hostilities, cold or otherwise, cease, you shouldn't pare back your intelligence services, quite the opposite. Those services, particularly electronic services in these times, you should be continuously upgrading.

But it doesn't matter what or who's kit you buy, (although I would certainly prefer they didn't get it from potential enemies,) without properly trained and skilled staff it's primarily ornamental. That's a problem that stretches over many aspects of all services both civilian and governmental these days.

[al1934]

Well said, Bob! If our incredibly hi-tech type 45 Destroyers had been built with suitable engines, instead of the wrong choice by Mr Hoon, they might still be operational. It's the politicians and civil servants who bugger up everything.

[Lancsman]

Alick, wasn`t it always thus!