Being dragged in front of Congress on anything related to a computer is not a big deal; if it were, Mark Zuckerberg would not be CEO of Meta. The liabilities will be played out in court over the next decade, and you'll possibly see some legislation passed over that time period limiting liability in these situations, because how can we possibly expect these companies to deliver value to shareholders while shouldering the risks posed by adversarial state-backed hackers?
Personal responsibility as conducted through firings means more for the rank-and-file than for directors and above. It's not about what you've done as much as who you know in those levels.
You stated "Being dragged in front of Congress on anything related to a computer is not a big deal". I do not think you understand how the United States works. The United States government can destroy a company if it wants to. A good example is TikTok. Angering senators, or representatives is a very dangerous thing to do. If you want to see the results, look at the legal problems Google is having, or the problems Microsoft had in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
> how can we possibly expect these companies to deliver value to shareholders while shouldering the risks posed by adversarial state-backed hackers
1. Liability
2. Insurance Premiums
3. Regulation
1 and 2 are already in place, and 3 is currently working it's way over the next couple years.
> TL;DR: I'll believe it when I see it.
Cynicism is valid, but at some point it's just unfounded nihilism, and you as an individual IC will never publicly see these changes as they are well above your pay grade (and you sure as hell won't hear about it publicly)
> Being dragged in front of Congress on anything related to a computer is not a big deal
It is when you are on the hook for that federal bailout to prevent the entire healthcare system from collapsing [0] caused by incompetence surrounding credential management
> Cynicism is valid, but at some point it's just unfounded nihilism, and you as an individual IC will never publicly see these changes as they are well above your pay grade (and you sure as hell won't hear about it publicly)
Weird comment, are we supposed to trade the unfounded nihilism for unfounded optimism? Apparently accountability and transparency[1] are widely available.. behind closed doors.
[1]: yep, transparency is kinda required for having effective insurance, regulation, or liability.
Personal responsibility as conducted through firings means more for the rank-and-file than for directors and above. It's not about what you've done as much as who you know in those levels.
TL;DR: I'll believe it when I see it.