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> “And then to react in this way where you don’t say ‘thank you’ but actually turn on the reporter and researchers and go after them…it’s just weird.” it's no

by zzzeek 5y ago

> “And then to react in this way where you don’t say ‘thank you’ but actually turn on the reporter and researchers and go after them…it’s just weird.” it's not "weird", it's an elected official trying to deflect from being exposed as completely endangering the PII of state employees. while trying to bring charges here is ridiculous, it might not be the case in a few years as we watch the continued crumbling of institutions, where bad faith arguments made up on the fly by anyone in power become excuses to do anything. like trying to extort the government of Ukraine to work on behalf of the official's personal reelection campaign, for example.

deleted 5y ago
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- deleted 5y ago
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CivBase 5y ago
It's kind of weird. After all, it's not like the governor is directly responsible for the flaw. Even if his opposition could have indirectly linked his administration to the flaw, his response has certainly done far more damage to his reputation than that ever could.
- weatherlight 5y ago
  Most likely voters don't understand how computers work. I'm not sure it'll matter much.
  - treeman79 5y ago
    I’m fairly sure he doesn’t understand. Language used makes it sounds he has no clue how html works. Back in 90s, I was constantly being accused of hacking things just for knowing how to build a website. This was also the era of when the news would run phone polls on whether the Internet should be allowed or not. I learn to keep my mouth shut about what I could do unless I was sure it was a tech savvy crowd. This dude brings back a lot of those memories
    - handrous 5y ago
      > This was also the era of when the news would run phone polls on whether the Internet should be allowed or not. Clearly, people answered those polls incorrectly. It should definitely not be allowed.
      - denton-scratch 5y ago
        I agree. Only elites should be allowed to use stuff like LSD, computers and the internet. This can be arranged simply by criminalising it; along with a social convention that elites don't get prosecuted. /s
        handrous 5y ago
        No, no, no. More LSD. Less Internet.
    - bee_rider 5y ago
      > This was also the era of when the news would run phone polls on whether the Internet should be allowed or not. Given the way things are going, perhaps we should revisit this decision. It seems that there's a population that isn't quite ready for this level of access to [mis]information.
  - not2b 5y ago
    For more complex cases this could be an issue, but this one is dead simple: you could do "view source" and see teachers' social security numbers. If they go to trial this case will be laughed out of court.
- EtherTyper 5y ago
  I still think the governor can be seen as indirectly responsible, since this is a result of insufficient security auditing.
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dkarl 5y ago
I wouldn't be surprised if the governor acted more because he sensed an opportunity than out of fear of the story. By playing the story this way, he gets to act out the feelings of a constituency that feels judged by educated urbanites and unable to keep up with a changing world. He is standing up for the honor of Missouri against the sneering condescension of the fancy city reporter. From that point of view, he isn't dealing with a threat so much as feasting on a political opportunity.
EtherTyper 5y ago
Right, or allegedly trying to extort the government of Ukraine to end an investigation against the official's relatives. Corruption on all sides unfortunately.
- zzzeek 5y ago
  which would also be bad! however, my example actually happened.
  - deleted 5y ago
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  - EtherTyper 5y ago
    Yes, as did mine (allegedly.) See <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/10/14/hunter-bidens-alleged-laptop-an-explainer/#:~:text=The%20U.S,guarantees%20were%20provided. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/10/14/hunter-bi...> It seems that in both cases the accused was acquitted or the investigation against them was closed. That's hardly a reasonable indicator of innocence though, as just like you said above, powerful people can often make up excuses to get away with crimes and corruption scot-free. You might be entirely right that one example really happened and the other didn't.
q1w2 5y ago
The underlying issue here is that there is no national legal standard for responsible disclosure. ...and with all the news of foreign ransomeware gang causing havoc, prosecutors and politicians are HUNGRY to prosecute "hackers". My advice to a client would be not to disclose any vulnerability on a government system, due to the unfortunate legal liability. ...and if they did feel the need to disclose (which I admire), to do so anonymously to a 3rd party security researcher with the history and reputation for that sort of work (ie a reputation that even an old IT-clueless judge cannot deny). Don't put yourself in the cross-hairs of some overzealous prosecutor who wants to show his boss/party/public that he's the one prosecutor that busted a bunch of evil hackers.

by zzzeek 5y ago

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CivBase 5y ago

It's kind of weird. After all, it's not like the governor is directly responsible for the flaw. Even if his opposition could have indirectly linked his administration to the flaw, his response has certainly done far more damage to his reputation than that ever could.

weatherlight 5y ago
Most likely voters don't understand how computers work. I'm not sure it'll matter much.
- treeman79 5y ago
  I’m fairly sure he doesn’t understand. Language used makes it sounds he has no clue how html works. Back in 90s, I was constantly being accused of hacking things just for knowing how to build a website. This was also the era of when the news would run phone polls on whether the Internet should be allowed or not. I learn to keep my mouth shut about what I could do unless I was sure it was a tech savvy crowd. This dude brings back a lot of those memories
  - handrous 5y ago
    > This was also the era of when the news would run phone polls on whether the Internet should be allowed or not. Clearly, people answered those polls incorrectly. It should definitely not be allowed.
    - denton-scratch 5y ago
      I agree. Only elites should be allowed to use stuff like LSD, computers and the internet. This can be arranged simply by criminalising it; along with a social convention that elites don't get prosecuted. /s
      - handrous 5y ago
        No, no, no. More LSD. Less Internet.
  - bee_rider 5y ago
    > This was also the era of when the news would run phone polls on whether the Internet should be allowed or not. Given the way things are going, perhaps we should revisit this decision. It seems that there's a population that isn't quite ready for this level of access to [mis]information.
- not2b 5y ago
  For more complex cases this could be an issue, but this one is dead simple: you could do "view source" and see teachers' social security numbers. If they go to trial this case will be laughed out of court.
EtherTyper 5y ago
I still think the governor can be seen as indirectly responsible, since this is a result of insufficient security auditing.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

dkarl 5y ago

I wouldn't be surprised if the governor acted more because he sensed an opportunity than out of fear of the story. By playing the story this way, he gets to act out the feelings of a constituency that feels judged by educated urbanites and unable to keep up with a changing world. He is standing up for the honor of Missouri against the sneering condescension of the fancy city reporter. From that point of view, he isn't dealing with a threat so much as feasting on a political opportunity.

EtherTyper 5y ago

Right, or allegedly trying to extort the government of Ukraine to end an investigation against the official's relatives. Corruption on all sides unfortunately.

zzzeek 5y ago
which would also be bad! however, my example actually happened.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- EtherTyper 5y ago
  Yes, as did mine (allegedly.) See <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/10/14/hunter-bidens-alleged-laptop-an-explainer/#:~:text=The%20U.S,guarantees%20were%20provided. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/10/14/hunter-bi...> It seems that in both cases the accused was acquitted or the investigation against them was closed. That's hardly a reasonable indicator of innocence though, as just like you said above, powerful people can often make up excuses to get away with crimes and corruption scot-free. You might be entirely right that one example really happened and the other didn't.

q1w2 5y ago

The underlying issue here is that there is no national legal standard for responsible disclosure. ...and with all the news of foreign ransomeware gang causing havoc, prosecutors and politicians are HUNGRY to prosecute "hackers". My advice to a client would be not to disclose any vulnerability on a government system, due to the unfortunate legal liability. ...and if they did feel the need to disclose (which I admire), to do so anonymously to a 3rd party security researcher with the history and reputation for that sort of work (ie a reputation that even an old IT-clueless judge cannot deny). Don't put yourself in the cross-hairs of some overzealous prosecutor who wants to show his boss/party/public that he's the one prosecutor that busted a bunch of evil hackers.