Cyber criminals are doing so well because security is too difficult for the great unwashed. Michael Chertoff, who ran the Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009 said that computer security isn’t up to the threat posed by cyber criminals because doing it right is too complicated for most people.

Speaking at the RSA conference in San Francisco Chertoff said that while it’s generally possible to secure a computer and protect one’s personal information it requires technical expertise beyond the grasp of the typical computer owner.

He said that there was not much talk about cyber issues that make it easy to understand and things get bogged own in technology jargon. Chertoff said it is impossible to educate people, you have to offer people solutions that they are comfortable with instead.