Mike Parsons is a low-down no-good son of a bitch.

[shortylickens]

A Missouri newspaper told the state about a security risk. Now it faces prosecution

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says it alerted officials to a security flaw on a state website. Gov. Mike Parson described it as a hack that be investigated and could cost taxpayers $50 million.

www.npr.org

Also he should learn to do what everyone else does and ask for advice on how to prevent hacking instead of punishing the messenger.

 

[woolfe9998]

Yes, he's that. And also an idiot. You aren't going to convict anyone of hacking for accessing a website's html source code. LOL. Want to see the source code for this website? Right click in Chrome and select "view page source." If that is hacking then lots and lots of people are in trouble.

If teachers' social security numbers were visible in the source code, that is a serious security breach that the state is responsible for because literally anyone on the planet with a web browser can view this information in one single mouse click. ONE.

They should be thanking the Post-Dispatch.

 

[brycejones]

This is his standard operating mode. Just another "populist" ass hat GOP Gov.

 

[dawp]

I'd like to say I'm surprised but I'm not. I've come to expect this shit from republicans to cover their own asses.

the paper should sue the state.

 

[soulcougher73]

All this does is make someone want to sell the info to real hackers next time, instead of doing the right thing and being prosecuted for it. What a dick cheese.

Also shows that old people know nothing about technology and should not be in charge of any government duties. Worlds changing too fast for old people to keep up.

 

[Viper1j]

A Missouri newspaper told the state about a security risk. Now it faces prosecution

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says it alerted officials to a security flaw on a state website. Gov. Mike Parson described it as a hack that be investigated and could cost taxpayers $50 million.

www.npr.org

Also he should learn to do what everyone else does and ask for advice on how to prevent hacking instead of punishing the messenger.

Parsons shouldn't be allowed to use anything more complex than two tin cans connected with string.

All that thar' fancy computer stuff will just make him dizzy.

 

[IronWing]

Now my brain hurts.

 

[KB]

I love how these republicans claim to be savers of Free speech, then the moment they hear something they don't like, they sue, complain or threaten legal action.

 

[Paratus]

The old if we act shocked, angry, and confused maybe no one will realize how incomptent we were act.

 

[Viper1j]

The whole thing makes me nostalgic.

2600 News | 2600

www.2600.com

 

[K1052]

The end goal is to make embarrassing Republican politicians punishable by prison time. They just want to increase your freedom from worrying that they are all morons.

 

[Vic]

The end goal is to make embarrassing Republican politicians punishable by prison time. They just want to increase your freedom from worrying that they are all morons.

What I find most worrying about this agenda is that these Republican politicians will pitch an upside-down version of the 1a where they will claim it exists to protect (Republican) govt officials from the media and not the media from the govt officials as originally intended (looking at you, Ted Cruz).

But check out Parson's own words: "They were acting against a state agency... in an attempt to embarrass the state and sell headlines for their news outlet."
An activity which is entirely protected by the 1a. Incompetent govt agencies and officials should be publicly embarrassed, and it is in the public interest to monetarily incentivize the media to do so.

 

[K1052]

What I find most worrying about this agenda is that these Republican politicians will pitch an upside-down version of the 1a where they will claim it exists to protect (Republican) govt officials from the media and not the media from the govt officials as originally intended (looking at you, Ted Cruz).

I mean this seems like the goal and they've stacked the courts hoping for that outcome. We're getting tastes already of how perversely Republcian appointed judges are willing to rule for their political and partisan ends. Even already have MFing Alito and Thomas out in the wild complaining that us commoners have the gall to notice what they're doing.

 

[woolfe9998]

Parsons shouldn't be allowed to use anything more complex than two tin cans connected with string.

All that thar' fancy computer stuff will just make him dizzy.

View attachment 51478

I get that there are people who do not understand that this isn't hacking, who might think that "accessing html source code" is some kind of ninja jedi hacking trick. But then you ASK someone who knows before going public with allegations of criminality. And before you go puffing your chest and acting like you're the state AG instead of the governor. Governors should not be threatening anyone with prosecution anyway, even if they're guilty.

This asshole is unfit for office. These are the people republicans are voting for these days, incompetents who are good for only one thing: playing the culture war game. In this case, attacking the free press, and for doing a public service no less.

 

[interchange]

On the one hand, declaring that viewing html source code is hacking is incredibly stupid. On the other hand, it's a frame of reference which makes me l33t, so in the end I approve of this investigation.

 

[dawp]

I think the only reason he did this is to prove to the state he's a moron.

 

[rommelrommel]

I get that there are people who do not understand that this isn't hacking, who might think that "accessing html source code" is some kind of ninja jedi hacking trick. But then you ASK someone who knows before going public with allegations of criminality. And before you go puffing your chest and acting like you're the state AG instead of the governor. Governors should not be threatening anyone with prosecution anyway, even if they're guilty.

This asshole is unfit for office. These are the people republicans are voting for these days, incompetents who are good for only one thing: playing the culture war game. In this case, attacking the free press, and for doing a public service no less.

It was just recently here where a news agency said a couple of their reporters got “doxed” because someone posted their publicly listed emails on Twitter and told their supporters to tell the reporters what they thought of them.
Asshole behaviour for sure, but not doxing.

 

[Aikouka]

People like Parsons say things like this because the politically aligned media outlets will simply propagate the news with as much skewing as necessary to rile up the base. They'll make sure to emphasize things like "decoding social security numbers" and "accessing personal information he wasn't supposed to be able to access". This directly feeds the obtuse victimhood narrative that some conservatives have.

 

[brycejones]

Well Parsons has decided to double down on the stupid:

States that thanks to the reporter publishing the story the state may be on the hook for as much as $50M due to the security breach the reporter sorry L33T HACKERZ exposed.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article255145077.html#storylink=mainstage_lead

I would assume like most state websites this one was built by an outside contractor who had the lowest bid and obviously the state lacks the technical skills to adequately monitor and oversee the security of the final product. This is the real issue here, many government agencies just flat do not have the necessary abilities on staff to either do their own development or manage contractors hired to build technology solutions.

 

[woolfe9998]

Well Parsons has decided to double down on the stupid:

States that thanks to the reporter publishing the story the state may be on the hook for as much as $50M due to the security breach the reporter sorry L33T HACKERZ exposed.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article255145077.html#storylink=mainstage_lead

I would assume like most state websites this one was built by an outside contractor who had the lowest bid and obviously the state lacks the technical skills to adequately monitor and oversee the security of the final product. This is the real issue here, many government agencies just flat do not have the necessary abilities on staff to either do their own development or manage contractors hired to build technology solutions.

Jesus H Christ, the costs he is lamenting are due to the state's own negligence, not the newspaper who exposed it. Can you imagine the liability if people started mining these SS numbers and opening up credit accounts, destroying people's credit ratings and ruining their lives? There are thousands of state employees on that website.

Does he really think the newspaper should have just stayed mum about this? What is wrong with him?

 

[hal2kilo]

Jesus H Christ, the costs he is lamenting are due to the state's own negligence, not the newspaper who exposed it. Can you imagine the liability if people started mining these SS numbers and opening up credit accounts, destroying people's credit ratings and ruining their lives? There are thousands of state employees on that website.

Does he really think the newspaper should have just stayed mum about this? What is wrong with him?

Sunshine hurts your eyes.

 

[dawp]

Jesus H Christ, the costs he is lamenting are due to the state's own negligence, not the newspaper who exposed it. Can you imagine the liability if people started mining these SS numbers and opening up credit accounts, destroying people's credit ratings and ruining their lives? There are thousands of state employees on that website.

Does he really think the newspaper should have just stayed mum about this? What is wrong with him?

it makes him and the state look bad

 

[woolfe9998]

it makes him and the state look bad

And it's coming from the press, a favorite culture war target of the right.

 

[nakedfrog]

I'm baffled at why the SSN would be in the HTML at all if it's not being displayed. Something tells me that whatever device the data is stored on (at this point I'm not even going to be so bold as to assume it's stored in a database...) probably isn't all that secure either.

 

[interchange]

Jesus H Christ, the costs he is lamenting are due to the state's own negligence, not the newspaper who exposed it. Can you imagine the liability if people started mining these SS numbers and opening up credit accounts, destroying people's credit ratings and ruining their lives? There are thousands of state employees on that website.

Does he really think the newspaper should have just stayed mum about this? What is wrong with him?

Well I would say the right thing to do in a moral not legal sense would be for the newspaper to have made significant efforts to alert the government about the vulnerability privately so that they can fix it prior to publishing a story about it. But for all I know, they did.