Should we blame victims of cyber crime for their victimimzation?

 *opinion

A few mouths back. The US Department of Homeland Security and the FBI  issued an alert warning of ongoing cyber-attacks against U.S. energy utilities and other critical infrastructure by individuals acting on behalf of the Russian government. They say the attacks against American targets has been underway since at least March 2016.The attackers used, for one, a 2015 vulnerability in Microsoft Office. The flaw allowed the attackers to obtain a hash of the credentials of  individuals clicking on a phishing links, from which they were able to get passwords and accessed victims' accounts.

Among the highlights, Trump blamed the DNC for the Russian hacking that was front and center  when Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein announced the indictment of 12 of Putin’s military leaders over that hack and other moves to interfere with the U.S. 2016 presidential election.

“Again, this was during the Obama administration,” Trump told Glor. “They were doing whatever it was during the Obama administration. And I heard that they were trying, or people were trying, to hack into the RNC, too, the Republican National Committee. But we had much better defenses. I’ve been told that by a number of people, we had much better defenses, so they couldn’t. I think the DNC should be ashamed of themselves for allowing themselves to be hacked.”

Victim blaming is just sad. It shouldn't be something we're proud of. It marginalizes the victim of cyber-crime, minimizes the criminal act, and makes people less likely to come forward and report what has happened to them. Victim-blaming originates from meanness, and a smug sense of superiority.