Anyone who wants a quick lesson in Republican double standards on benefits fraud should pay attention to the details of the Farmer Bridge Assistance program, which will be sending $12 billion in payments to farmers over the coming months.
According to the USDA website, farmers are being sent pre-filled applications based on their previous year’s information that they can certify, sign and return in order to receive payments of up to $155,000. Letting recipients self-certify for benefits opens the door to fraud.
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Contrast that with USDA’s approach to SNAP beneficiaries, who are all being asked to reapply and are required to provide documentation that provides proof of identity, citizenship and income.
The Farmer Bridge Assistance program is the farmer welfare program that is attempting to make up for some of the damage that the Trump tariffs have done to…
IT & DATA SECURITY (MITIGATING THE “INSIDER THREAT”)
As seen in the TD Bank case, an employee with too much “access” can sell your customer data to syndicates.
- Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): Employees should only have access to the specific folders and databases required for their current task.
- Access Revocation: Have a “Termination Checklist” that ensures all digital access (Email, VPN, Banking) is revoked within 60 minutes of an employee resigning or being dismissed.
- System Logs & Audit Trails: Enable “Read/Write Logging” on your server. If a customer’s data is leaked, you need to know exactly which login accessed that record and at what time.
- Encryption at Rest: Ensure that sensitive files (like your customer ID numbers or payroll spreadsheets) are encrypted so that if a staff member copies them to a USB, they cannot be read.