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Tweet from the governor: "Through a multi-step process, an individual took the records of at least three educators, decoded the HTML source code, and viewed the SSN of those specific educators." >Through a multi-step process >decoded the HTML source code Somebody has been watching B-list hacker movies.
Step one: Press Ctrl Step two: Press U
2. Hover over developer menu item
3. Click View Source
Three-step process - even more nefarious!
From the article, it sounds like nothing even remotely questionable was done by the reporter who found the flaw: > "According to the Post-Dispatch, one of its reporters discovered the flaw in a web application allowing the public to search teacher certifications and credentials. No private information was publicly visible, but teacher Social Security numbers were contained in HTML source code of the pages."
We've always known that using DevTools was a criminal activity. In fact, the sheer number of people using them places this at criminal conspiracy levels. Better start filing those RICO cases against the browser devs. /s
/not sarcasm, I wish I was joking...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
So? Something being "normal" doesn't make it just. Or even legal.
Its not normal in society to commit domestic violence, most people in western society would find themselves ostracized from their peers if they were a known wife / child abuser. If I told my friends the website allowed me to see other plans and I checked them out they would just ask if I saw anything interesting and chuckle at the flaw. Curiosity is normal; beating your spouse is not.
If changing a few characters in a URL was a crime, I'd be gone for life.
edit: and, I'm using "normal" in the same sense as the comment I was originally responding to: to indicate an everyday occurrence
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Missouri is not even remotely considered to be in "the south". At least not by those who live there or in neighboring states.
You're right! It's part of the midwest officially. Apparently it does share at least some of the classic characteristics of the southern states.
FYI the "Governor" is Mike Parson "As governor, Parson signed a bill criminalizing abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy and opposed Medicaid expansion. He oversaw the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, where he issued a temporary stay-at-home order in April 2020, allowed schools districts to decide whether or not to close, and limited postal voting during the 2020 U.S. elections. Parson also oversaw Missou…
I am reliably informed by people with some insight into Missouri government that Parson is exceptionally terrible. Incompetent or malicious, depending on the day. I gather the previous (also Republican) governor, Greitens, who may or may not have been into some weird/illegal sex stuff and was forced out over it, was actually pretty good. Seemed to truly care about governing well and improving the functions of state g…
"... teachers’ Social Security numbers were contained in the HTML source code of the pages involved..." My bet is the SSN was used as the GUID for a table row or list item.
> Parson said...the reporter was “attempting to embarrass the state and sell headlines for their news outlet.” Literally a reporter's job.
This could actually become illegal in the UK. The official secrets act might be amended to make it illegal to embarrass the state...
It’s not even a partisan thing, it seems like almost all our major parties seem to lose 40 IQ points when the internet is involved. Everyone from Blair onwards has been a tinpot authoritarian when it comes to digital rights.
After the Affordable Care Act went into effect I signed our company up for our state's marketplace. While browsing our plan options, I noticed the url used a scheme like marketplace.org/employers/341/plans.aspx. Of course, I tried changing the number in the url to 342 to see what happened. To my astonishment, it loaded up the next company's plans, including a list of employee names, ages, plan cost, and SSNs. After I…
I dunno, this seems pretty normal. Just today news broke that in Germany some guy who found a flaw in a web-shop backend leaking the data of hundreds of thousands of people got raided, because the operator reported him to the police - and somehow both police and state attorney found it wise to prosecute him instead of referring the case to the GDPR officer to fine the operator. It's pretty obvious that when you find…
In this case, I'm not terribly surprised since that governer is from the party which frequently equates educated people as being "elite" - a characteristic to be avoided.