Bugs spotlight government’s rocky relationship with tech

A rash of technological woes hobbling key governmental services in the Bay Area and beyond has laid bare the often rocky relationship that municipalities have with the critical digital systems that play an ever-deepening role in civic life.

Fares have gone uncollected and erroneous warrants have been issued as key functions run on decades-old software or untested new applications.

And in many cities, the simplicity and ease with which we tap a phone to summon a car or order a meal is nowhere to be seen when paying taxes or filling out forms.

With some exceptions, California’s distinction as the wealthiest state in the nation — and the home of Silicon Valley — has done little to immunize the state against the pitfalls of politics and the dense bureaucracy that some officials say make adopting new technology or fixing existing systems such a daunting process.

Fiona Ma, the chairwoman of the state’s Board of Equalization, said that unlike Silicon Valley, where failing — even at great expense — can be celebrated, “government doesn’t condone anyone ... blowing through millions of dollars on a failed project, because that’s wasting taxpayer dollars,” she said. “That’s why government folks are slower to act and will tend towards a safe bet.”

The board recently began a huge overhaul of its decades-old software used to process taxes.

“It’d be great if government was nimble and quick, but unfortunately, it’s not set up that way,” Ma said.

But today, the consequences of maintaining aging software or stumbling with newly deployed code are becoming increasingly severe, experts say, as the public’s tolerance for inconvenience dwindles and governments scramble to protect themselves from hacking.

“The risk is to all of us as citizens. The risk is to trust in government,” said Tim Woodbury, director of government relations at Accela, a San Ramon company that sells a variety of software systems to government agencies.

Alameda County’s public defender said last month that a recently installed court case management system resulted in wrongful arrests and imprisonments. Days before that, Muni fell victim to a ransomware attack from an anonymous hacker that temporarily shut down computers at 900 workstations in the San Francisco transit system.

Alex Heid, the chief research officer of SecurityScorecard, a firm that helps companies assess their cybersecurity vulnerabilities, evaluated Muni’s digital infrastructure and found evidence suggesting that the hacker may have gained entry because there are a number of applications for employees that are accessible to the public on the Internet.

“There are so many doors that are ajar, broken doorknobs and cracked windows that there are several ways to crawl in,” Heid said. He added that his assessment also found lingering evidence of the Conficker computer worm — a malicious program infecting the Windows operating system that was detected in the late 2000s.

Microsoft eventually developed patches to prevent Conficker from spreading. Heid said the presence of the worm’s signature suggests that Muni has “an old system and they aren’t keeping it up to date.”

Paul Rose, a spokesman for San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency, said in an email that “based on initial information from federal agencies, all information pointed to a ransomware attack where a network user clicked on a link that contained the virus.”

“We continue to work with these agencies to fully investigate the incident and determine the specific details,” Rose wrote.

Similarly, BART confirmed in September that its fare machines are running Windows 2000, a version of the operating system that Microsoft hasn’t supported or updated since 2010. BART said at the time that an upgrade to a newer version of Windows is in the works, expected to be completed by the spring.

Some governmental agencies, however, are working to bring their technology up to speed with the needs of the modern public.

The San Francisco Superior Court plans to install a new case management system that CEO Michael Yuen said will let people pay citations online and collect crucial data.

The court’s old case management system is expected to be largely phased out by 2018, Yuen said. First implemented 40 years ago, the system works on “technology that predates the equipment available to us now, like a mouse,” Yuen said. “And it’s just unfortunate that San Francisco, in the backyard of Silicon Valley, had technology that is so antiquated.”

Yuen added that the court is aware that younger generations expect efficiency.

“I think that as the population of folks shifts, government has the responsibility to adequately shift with it,” Yuen said. “It’s incumbent on us to keep up with the population of folks we serve.”

San Francisco’s budget has $186.6 million — just 2 percent of the $9.6 billion total — set aside for investments in tech projects, and the city has identified three key systems for replacement or upgrades.

The central financial and accounting information system, communications infrastructure that supports public safety departments, and the system for tracking property taxes have been earmarked as major information technology projects.

Rob Lloyd, the director of information technology and chief information officer for the city of San Jose, said the “natural tendency” for many governments is to spend heavily on public safety or public works.

“It’s easier to invest in things that are more politically convenient,” Lloyd said. “It’s easier to communicate and a simpler argument to make.”

But, Lloyd said, officials who hold government purse strings are becoming receptive to the notion that tech can pay off in ways beyond saving costs or complying with regulations.

“Once upon a time, (tech) was a cost center,” said Lloyd, who came to San Jose in June after serving five years as chief information officer for the city of Avondale, Ariz. “Now, we’re starting to talk more about the outcomes, about the benefits.”

San Jose residents, for example, can now download the San Jose Clean app to help the city locate and remove graffiti and litter. San Francisco released its Adopt-a-Drain Web application, where residents can sign up to clean storm drains to prevent flooding.

Woodbury, the Accela executive, said that while updating government technology will remain a painstaking process, public officials are starting to realize that the need to modernize their systems will only become more urgent.

“I don’t think we have a choice,” he said. “Tech is a tool like anything else. I think most government officials see there’s no going back.”