NH mayors on alert after cheating site revelations include city government domains
Email addresses bearing the domain names of New Hampshire cities and towns appear to be among a slew of data stolen when hackers accessed the cheating website Ashley Madison. The data access by hackers details millions of members of the Ashley Madison website, whose tagline is “Life is short. Have an affair.”
Although unconfirmed, some websites have posted abbreviated email addresses of reported members. The address domains include branches of the military and a long list of local governments. New Hampshire city domains included Dover, Manchester, Milford and Nashua.
While the list couldn’t be independently confirmed, the possibility of municipal workers using government accounts and office computers to access the site troubled local officials. (Click here to view the list of the address domains.)
And then this next part just slays me, given what we found with NH DES/DOT not enforcing their own edicts as far as “permitted use” of NH’s computer assets:
In Manchester, Mayor Ted Gatsas said he contacted Information Systems Director Jennie Angell once he was alerted to the matter Thursday.“She is conducting a thorough investigation of the claim. Through this investigation should we find the claim to be true, and there was gross misuse of city resources, it will be immediately turned over to the city solicitor,” Gatsas said in a statement.“I would be concerned if one of our employees is violating the city’s computer use policy in a manner like this,” Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau said.
Locking the barn door after the horse ran wild is no solution at all. Given that the State of NH wasn’t even taking the LEAST precautions to stop “bad surfing” (our case is that we found a guy doing more political posting (er, guess which side of the aisle HE was spouting from!) and even lesser as far as forensic backtracking, I doubt even Manchester is going to have the breadcrumbs internally to do all that much.
I have no sympathy for people who went out of their way and paid money to have affairs – like some of these – with either married or unmarried partners in crime. Sure, people have done these kinds of things for centuries – technology just makes it easier. What hasn’t changed is human nature. But our society has – lowered morales, a much more self-interested (or rather more selfish) society. Traditional traits and values have diminished – a wedding VOW is a promise, a public acclimation that your spouse comes first before self. We of faith believe it is also a sacred vow – and who wishes to break such before Almighty God?
In June, TMEW and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary – and I refuse to say that it has been all roses and ice cream. It has been HARD, a lot of tears, and yes, sometimes yelling and harsh words. No, we aren’t special for having a long marriage – but it seems that what used to be common has become “special” and very rare. And that is “commitment” – and an undying believe that this value is uppermost ALWAYS.
Our society has been changed from within – and I think deliberately – by destroying those moral value that once made us a rugged, strong, independent society with nuclear families as the solid building blocks of a larger Civil Society. Along with that came the understanding that life was not about US – it was about our spouses, our children, and that ME came last. You take on the responsibilities, the responsibilities came first before WHAT you thought was best for yourself. It wasn’t about ME – it was about others: family, friends, neighbors.
Unfortunately, the ME generation happened and the Individual became foremost. Almost on an altar. If it felt good, just do it. If it didn’t hurt anyone else, great. Love the one you’re with. In other words, me, Me, ME! MY needs come first and if not, well, that needs to change, doesn’t it? Self-centeredness took the place of duty, honor, and voluntarily assumed responsibilities. Putting others first came secondary to what I need from you. Promises kept but only if they fed ME! If MY needs are not being met, well, then, take off and find someone else.
In other words, adult children now rule the day – at least their outlook of what really makes an adult.
And that is the lesson learned from Ashley Madison whose motto was “Life’s short. Have an affair”. Ask yourself this – it became $150 million biz last year. Think back 50 years – could that have even been a viable business then? 80 years ago?
(H/T: Union Leader reformatted, emphasis mine)
