Canada's Auditor General: "Our Main IT System Is Running on DOS"

Canada's auditor general has said outdated technology, staffing issues, and a chronic lack of funding are making it difficult for his office to fulfill its mandate. 

Speaking at a meeting of the country's Public Accounts committee on Thursday, Sylvain Ricard bemoaned the fact that his office was forced to rely on antiquated computer systems that pose a security threat.

Ricard, who took up the auditor general position in March 2019, told the committee: "Our main IT system is running on DOS. That creates all sorts of issues for us, both in a security perspective and an operational perspective because they’re not supported anymore."

DOS, or disk operation system, was a smash hit when it was introduced in the late 1970s, but the technology was essentially retired in the mid-1990s. Today, the beyond retro system is considered obsolete.

Ricard said that failure to upgrade to newer technology has left the office of the auditor general (OAG) isolated and vulnerable. 

"You can’t turn to a supplier and get updates, because they don’t exist. That’s our reality,” said Ricard.

Canadian members of Parliament were stunned to learn that Ricard and his team were trying to perform audits with technology that went out of fashion back when Brad Pitt was dating a cigarette-smoking Gwyneth Paltrow. 

Upon learning that the country's auditor general was forced to work with a DOS system put in place in the late 1980s, a flabbergasted NDP MP Matthew Green said: "That’s wild."

Reliance on last century's technology has made attracting a ne ..

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