Djokovic's PCR test was manipulated? • Hacker News Board

Re: Djokovic's PCR test was manipulated?

#141

Post by revax » Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 5:56 PM UTC

panarky wrote: post #54

TomAnthony wrote: post #35

The negative test result: https://pcr.euprava.gov.rs/validate.php?cqcode=1640187792DOH... The positive test result: https://pcr.euprava.gov.rs/validate.php?cqcode=1640524880jk8...

Unfortunately the Serbian registry doesn't provide a timestamp for when each test was taken. But our intrepid OSINT researcher discovered that the data in the QR code begins with a UNIX timestamp, such as cqcode=1640187792... and cqcode=1640524880... From that one might infer that the positive test actually happened 4 days after the negative test. The documents Djokovic provided to the court claim the positive test h…

The timestamp seems to refer to the time the test report was downloaded not when the test was conducted.

https://twitter.com/blokovi/status/1480945535620108296

Re: Djokovic's PCR test was manipulated?

#142

Post by gruez » Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 5:57 PM UTC

jokethrowaway wrote: post #88

giarc wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the certificate validity is in question since the URLs of the Serbia government sites can be accessed. Unless the implication is that Serbian government aided in the fraud.

Most likely the system is available to tons of pharmacies / testing centres. They have access to a system able to grant passes. You just need to corrupt one to give you whatever pass you need. That's how the "Adolf Hitler" pass was generated a few months ago.

If corruption was involved, I'm surprised they didn't go for the more straightforward route of using an infected swab from someone else (get it from the hospital or something) and using that as the first test.

Re: Djokovic's PCR test was manipulated?

#143

Post by Scarblac » Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 5:59 PM UTC

boringg wrote: post #87

chrisseaton wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in tennis where tournaments are designed to be 'open' I thought 'open' meant 'open to people from outside the host region' not 'open to amateurs and professionals alike'?

Opens are for amateurs - see the golf open tournaments as well. Its kind of like open enrollment

The tennis Grand Slams used to be for amateurs only (I think the Olympics were the same). Professionals used to be looked down on as selling out to money etc.

Eventually tournaments became Open as they also allowed pros in.

Re: Djokovic's PCR test was manipulated?

#144

Post by whimsicalism » Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 5:59 PM UTC

azangru wrote: post #31

boringg wrote: post #19

More fuel to the fire - no reason he should get a pass when other people can't. Sorry - it's only tennis and he's trying to cheat to get in. This isn't to political leaders talking about the fate of their people.

> and he's trying to cheat to get in Sorry, I don't really follow those sports news, so maybe I missed something; but how did he try to cheat? He applied to Australian Open for an exemption, and was granted an exemption [0]. How is this cheating? [0] - https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/1478329044156309505

You may not follow sports news, but do you follow the link of the thread you're commenting in?

Re: Djokovic's PCR test was manipulated?

#145

Post by whimsicalism » Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 6:00 PM UTC

Spooky23 wrote: post #131

shmatt wrote: post #17

Good for Serbia for implementing some centralized system. A PCR test result in the U.S has absolutely no way of being verified, either negative or positive In Israel, which swabs every person who lands at the airport. There is a suspiciously steady stream of people flying in from the U.S who were negative before take off and positive 10 minutes after landing

Depends on where you got tested in the US. States like NY, NJ, CA and others have mandatory reporting requirements, so test results get returned to the county or state DOH and are verifiable. The problem is at the state level, you have a lot of weird political stuff that influences what and how each state performs certain processes. There’s also a huge flow of travel from US to Israel, and lots of weird corner cases…

Until very recently, all of those states were self-admin of the tests. This was not the case in Europe.

Re: Djokovic's PCR test was manipulated?

#146

Post by ls15 » Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 6:01 PM UTC

julianlam wrote: post #116

AnonCoward4 wrote: post #62

I find it really irritating to see medical test results online for everyone to see.

Why? It's a previously-unshared unenumerable link.

There is no protection against leaking these URLs and there is also no authenticated access history stored. Since you are supposed to show them to many people everyday, they are basically public.

Re: Djokovic's PCR test was manipulated?

#147

Post by whimsicalism » Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 6:01 PM UTC

dathinab wrote: post #121

iechoz6H wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't the thread suggest someone has fiddled the system on Djokovic's behalf? If that's the case then the centralized PCR verification system is nothing but a house of cards.

The timestamp is likely when the entry was opened in the system. Not when the test was made. Normally that's the same. But it's not enforced, as for example a test center which lost it's internet connection temporary is still allowed to add tests once the connection is back up. So we don't know for sure that the test is manipulated. We only know for sure that it was placed later in the system, not that it was made la…

I think this is a pretty big stretch. What does it mean for the "entry to be open in the system"? You think it is more likely the test center lost its internet connection for multiple days than that Djokovic lied?

Re: Djokovic's PCR test was manipulated?

#148

Post by logifail » Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 6:02 PM UTC

samarama wrote: post #130

artursapek wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the vaccines don't prevent spread or contraction of the virus, why are people upset with him standing up against these pointless vaccine mandates?

Because boostered individuals have a drastically reduced infection risk by 80%. On top of they are 66% less infectious when being infected since they clear the virus twice as fast and 40% of their virus particles are dead. This gives them an overall reduced risk of infecting someone else by 93%. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.24.21266831v... https://news.arizona.edu/story/covid-19-vaccine-reduces-sev…

> This gives them an overall reduced risk of infecting someone else by 93%

Q: How long does that reduced risk persist for?

Then read this story:

We can’t vaccinate the planet every six months, says JCVI chief https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/01/03/fourth-covid-jab...

"Prof Sir Andrew Pollard said there was no point in trying to stop all infections, and that 'at some point, society has to open up'"

Re: Djokovic's PCR test was manipulated?

#149

Post by hanoz » Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 6:03 PM UTC

TomAnthony wrote: post #35

The negative test result: https://pcr.euprava.gov.rs/validate.php?cqcode=1640187792DOH... The positive test result: https://pcr.euprava.gov.rs/validate.php?cqcode=1640524880jk8...

I've just managed to get my ip address a 24 hour ban by tweeking the timestamp parameter once! Which is a pretty obvious DoS vulnerability if anyone wanted to disable a venue's pass verification ability.

Re: Djokovic's PCR test was manipulated?

#150

Post by zqna » Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 6:03 PM UTC

giarc wrote: post #78

hugh-avherald wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An alternative conclusion is that the entire test certificate was faked and the bogus timestamp is the smoking gun.

I don't think the certificate validity is in question since the URLs of the Serbia government sites can be accessed. Unless the implication is that Serbian government aided in the fraud.

My bet is that Serbian government participated in "helping" Djokovic get a pass here. It's not an old history when some (neighbouring) country was manipulating tests at massive scale. The Serbian president was one of the first to shout about "discrimination", not even knowing yet what are the rules to enter Australia. Hopefully authorities will get to the bottom of this story.