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Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

missouriindependent.com

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Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#441

Post by cratermoon »

andrewflnr wrote: post #386
cratermoon wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is he legitimately without a single person close to him that could inform him of how misguided this line of aggression is, I've said it elsewhere and I'll repeat it here. People like Parsons who climb to positions of power think of security in terms of power, not technology. It's a sort of security-because-I-say-so mindset, which is more like what technologists would probably call "classified information". For a pe…

Interesting interpretation. However, what the reporter did is pretty analogous to finding a classified document on the ground, looking at the first couple pages to see if they were legit, then informing the correct authorities before writing a news story. Which is still something you want to encourage, and is insane to prosecute.

I was sort of under the impression that in the story the reporter wrote about how to access the SSNs, which is a bit more than just flipping through the pages, and in the security-by-decree point of view that might be prosecutable.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#442

Post by sam0x17 »

snarf21 wrote: post #160
Acutulus wrote: post #7

I find the article title kind of curious, given that it states Parson has "doubled down" which suggests that the video the article references is an active effort on Parson's part. It then goes on to state that the video was produced by a PAC Parson created but doesn't give direct input to. Comes off as unnecessarily inflammatory to me I suppose. Having said that, this situation in particular really tests my willingne…

This is a "no such thing as bad publicity" political tact. If the case doesn't go forward because, you know, the actual 1st amendment, then the next response will be how he is being cancelled by the liberal media. This is mostly signaling to his base that he is out there fighting for them but the other side isn't playing fair.

I think it's more of a "screw gamers/intellectuals/scientists/researchers because my base hates them" tact.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#443

Post by vixen99 »

tialaramex wrote: post #335
walls wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't have a mature dialog with people who don't believe facts.

This is a lesson from Gödel, Escher, Bach's Tortoise and Achilles stories too. Because the Tortoise refuses to accept Modus ponens (if A implies B, and A, then B), Achilles is unable to convince it of anything. The facts Achilles tells the Tortoise aren't any less true for its stubborn refusal to accept them, but Achilles won't convince the Turtle of them. If people won't be reasoned with, don't waste your time tryin…

For the benefit of a non-US reader can you be specific about this? What exactly are they stupid about as in, presumably, refusing to act appropriately when a fact stares them in the face. How relevant to the argument is it that the group are Republican? Are there no examples where groups of Democrats behave in a similarly stupid fashion - assuming the validity of your claim? You are clearly desperate to make a partisan point.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#444

Post by sam0x17 »

andrewflnr wrote: post #386
cratermoon wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is he legitimately without a single person close to him that could inform him of how misguided this line of aggression is, I've said it elsewhere and I'll repeat it here. People like Parsons who climb to positions of power think of security in terms of power, not technology. It's a sort of security-because-I-say-so mindset, which is more like what technologists would probably call "classified information". For a pe…

Interesting interpretation. However, what the reporter did is pretty analogous to finding a classified document on the ground, looking at the first couple pages to see if they were legit, then informing the correct authorities before writing a news story. Which is still something you want to encourage, and is insane to prosecute.

Insane, yes, but if you also don't like that reporter for X reason, the laws around classified information do unfortunately allow prosecution in that sort of case.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#445

Post by sour-taste »

kodah wrote: post #282
sour-taste wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hello neighbor! I had to do the same thing and drive out to Julien. I live in San Diego too.

Did you at least snag one of those delicious pies for your troubles?

Of course :D

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#446

Post by opwieurposiu »

jonathanwallace wrote: post #144

I served in the Georgia legislature during a portion of a similar story. Without a doubt, the calculations throughout the story were political not technical. In the Georgia version, the technical details of the exposed information in the Secretary of State's office were facepalmingly simple (misconfigured apache directives) yet the story dragged on politically for years. Quickly, a hired security researcher for a cor…

Wow that is a great story. I am glad there was at least one rep (you) who understood apache configuration.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#447

Post by sam0x17 »

dang wrote: post #392
abvdasker wrote: post #47

I'll risk making this a partisan issue and say the anti-intellectual and anti-science bent seems increasingly prevalent among Republicans like Mike Parson and their constituencies. One of the most shocking statistics I've seen recently is the Pew poll which shows that in the space of 2 years Republican attitudes about higher education saw a 20-point swing such that that most Republican voters now believe college is n…

Please do not take HN threads into flamewar, including partisan flamewar. We got intense flamewar hell as a direct result of what you posted, and that's not what this site is for—regardless of how wrong other people are or you feel they are. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

You might want to update the guidelines (or your reaction to these types of situations) to be consistent, dang.

> unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon.

This scenario clearly meets those criteria.

> Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. It tramples curiosity.

The OP specifically said he wanted to have an intellectual discussion about how anti-intellectuality has recently become a prevalent issue among a particular political party, something of interest and concern to all people, regardless of country or political affiliation. I can't think of a more extenuating circumstance, especially with the disturbing historical precedents we've seen in the last century around this issue, but it's disappointing to see that you disagree.

You are trampling curiosity in the name of avoiding trampling curiosity.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#448

Post by adrr »

tombert wrote: post #121
dreyfan wrote: post #17

The US is so completely and utterly fucked I think it's beyond redemption at this point.

Obviously America has problems that should be addressed, but I tend to think these "blame the US for everything cuz it's irredeemable" are doing a pretty big disservice all around. If we could singularly find these problems to be a uniquely American thing, that would be great! That means we've identified the problems and conceivably we could change the US to suddenly fix it. I think the reality is that it's not that…

It all depends. If one side believes the election was stolen and proceeds to rig elections in their favor in retaliation. America is done. We're at a point where fact don't matter. This is story illustrates that. Fact that SSN were sent out publicly doesn't matter. Fact that any security expert would say this wasn't hacking doesn't matter. Experts no longer matter. Whether they are doctors, scientists, etc.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#449

Post by cwal37 »

t-writescode wrote: post #436
cwal37 wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only insane in the context of recent decades. The vast bulk of jurisprudence (centuries) supported a much more restrictive reading of 2A, and changing that was a concerted effort of conservative groups (starting in the ~1980s), particularly out of more conservative law schools such as those in Tennessee. This was pretty well documented at the time if you would like to read about it[0]. [0] https://www.nybooks.com/art…

> particularly out of more conservative law schools such as those in Tennessee. This sounds contradictory to my understanding, related to the Black Panthers in California back in the 60s.

Separate things. Black Panther activity in California led to Reagan passing some restrictions in that state. I'm referring to jurisprudence at the higher court levels, which generally did not support the very strong individual rights to gun ownership that you see stated as "basic" rights now. The popular (and largely in practice) understanding of what 2A means for an individual is pretty different today, and very expansive.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#450

Post by ashtonkem »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #242
sillysaurusx wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't make this a partisan issue. I live in Missouri. I've voted for Republicans in the past. You're alienating people like me from being on your side. It doesn't matter that you're probably right. It comes across as you posting this to make yourself feel good, and holy moly the sense of superiority from your camp needs a chill pill. Parson is evil. I'll be doing my duty as a citizen and trying to vote him out…

There aren't sides! I'm not on your side, I don't even know you. No one here owes you anything. You're saying "you must woo me to do the right thing" and it's complete garbage (you've already admitted OP is "probably right"). If you're going to vote out of spite because people aren't "taking a chill pill" you can go pound sand. I'm tired of this "you didn't tell me in the perfect way, so I'm right and you're wrong" r…

Spoiler alert: there is no perfect way to tell them, that’s the point.
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