These articles are misguided. Nobody's saying music majors are idiots and unqualified to be in-charge of security at a web company because of the degree itself. If you're hearing that maybe it's your own thoughts bubbling up on you.<p>What people want to highlight is that this woman's only qualification is being a music major. She has literally no experience in managing the security of hundreds of millions of people's private information. For a company handling such huge amounts of such sensitive data, the CSO should possess exceptional credentials in the security community. She clearly does not.<p>Combine this with the facts that we know are correct (Equifax has terrible data security and response), and the music major qualification becomes a big red flag.<p>When sexual harassment allegations against Uber executives surfaced, didn't we put a lot of blame on the CEO for letting such a work-culture thrive? The same is applicable here on the CSO, and the CEO for hiring a woman whose sole achievement is a music degree.
The edited title here ("Equifax’s security chief had some big problems") doesnt match the article. There's no discussion about Mauldin's problems.<p>The full title is "Equifax’s security chief had some big problems. Being a music major wasn’t one of them."<p>And the article is entirely about that 2nd part... that her degree in music shouldn't be an issue.
Let's face it, security is a tough, technical challenge. The friendly slide decks with clip art of people shaking hands and "consultants" that make us feel good can only get you so far.