UK Lawmakers Sweating As Geeky Government Agents Chase Cash And Fast Cars
UK Lawmakers Sweating As Geeky Government Agents Chase Cash And Fast Cars
Posted 07/13/2011 at 10:11am
| by Brad Chacos
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Q, everyone's favorite gadget-smith, never got the respect he deserved. The job carried some great perks, sure – getting his hands on all that cutting-edge tech must have been awesome, and Q stayed immaculately dressed – but in the end, it was always James Bond who got the glory and the tricked out Aston Martins. Q and his friends might end up with the last laugh, though. The British government is warning that it's losing computer whizzes left and right as the allure of big paydays and fast cars are sucking geeky government agents into the private sector.
The news comes on the heels of an annual report by the Intelligence and Security Committee, who oversees the spy-type activities of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and the Security Service (MI5), as well as Britain's Government Communications Headquarters. The country's cybersecurity falls under its jurisdiction, and the committee's worried that a move to keep its budget locked at current levels for the next four years could cost them key personnel.
"Month-on-month, we are losing whizzes who'll basically say: 'I'm sorry, I am going to take three times the salary and the car and whatever else'," Reuters reports ISC director Iain Lobban as saying. "...I can offer them a fantastic mission, but I can't compete with their salaries. But I probably have to do better than I am doing at the moment, or else my internet whizzes are not going to stay ... and we do have a steady drip, I am afraid."
Cars and money does sound pretty tempting, we have to admit. Lobban claims Britain's networks are hit by over 1,000 cyber attacks month in and month out. Is it wise to freeze raises to the country's top geeks in these days of rampant hack attacks? Only time will tell.
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Wareagle
July 13, 2011 at 11:52am
Am I the only one who gets horribly annoyed when someone calls me a "Computer Whiz?"
Neufeldt2002
July 13, 2011 at 2:48pm
I have been called many things over the course of time and it does get repetitive, but the one person who can call me nerd, whiz, geek, etc and get away with it is my wife. When she does it, she always does it so that it is a term of endearment.
Caboose
July 14, 2011 at 8:56am
+1 this!
I mean, when my wife does it to me. Not your wife saying it to me. That'd just be bad...
>.>
<.<
YOU SAW NOTHING!
Darkside
July 13, 2011 at 1:52pm
I actually treat it like something of a compliment for two reasons:
1. I know something that they don't.
2. Depending on where it's said, that little phrase can translate to "Can I give you money now and probably a few more times down the road?" or "How would you like to have job security?"
Peanut Fox
July 13, 2011 at 12:55pm
No. I hate it. It drives me nuts and makes me want to strangle the guy. More so if it's pronounced compooter.
Brad Chacos
July 13, 2011 at 12:10pm
Ha, I hate it too. But I suppose it's better than what most people call me.
Vernak
July 13, 2011 at 1:07pm
What do people call you? You have something that they havent got...A GREAT BIG BUSHY BEARD!
Caboose
July 14, 2011 at 8:56am
I read the last part, in the voice of the police chief from "Hot Fuzz"
someuid
July 13, 2011 at 12:09pm
No. I've grown very tired of all the slang as well. Nerd. Geek. Whiz. Computer guru.
It all detracts from what I really am - a professional.
I also grow tired of the consant pronouncements of "I know literally nothing about computers." It is almost like a badge of honor as to how little they know. Some sort of self suffering they enjoy, or don't want anyone to mistake them for being a computer nerd, or just want to be part of the larger group of computer illiterate people.
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