In a nutshell, a reporter for the SLPD discovered that a Missouri state website, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, failed to encrypt over 100,000 teachers’ social security numbers when viewed in the html source code for the website. The paper notified the state and allowed them to fix the error before reporting on the story. Finding source code is as simple as hitting “view source” or F12 on most browsers (including Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, and Edge).
The education commissioner was prepared to thank the reporter for uncovering the vulnerability and sent an email to the governor’s office with this suggested notice…
“We are grateful to the member of the media who brought this to the state’s attention,” said a proposed quote from Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven.
The quote was not used. Instead the governor’s office decided to start a criminal investigation calling the journalist a hacker in this news release…
“We will not let this crime against Missouri teachers go unpunished,” Parson said at the news conference. “And we refuse to let them be a pawn in the news outlet’s political vendetta. Not only are we going to hold this individual accountable, but we will also be holding accountable all those who aided this individual and the media corporation that employs them.”
The governor is being ridiculed on social media, but keeps doubling down. Here’s two different articles on the story…
The education commissioner was prepared to thank the reporter for uncovering the vulnerability and sent an email to the governor’s office with this suggested notice…
“We are grateful to the member of the media who brought this to the state’s attention,” said a proposed quote from Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven.
The quote was not used. Instead the governor’s office decided to start a criminal investigation calling the journalist a hacker in this news release…
“We will not let this crime against Missouri teachers go unpunished,” Parson said at the news conference. “And we refuse to let them be a pawn in the news outlet’s political vendetta. Not only are we going to hold this individual accountable, but we will also be holding accountable all those who aided this individual and the media corporation that employs them.”
The governor is being ridiculed on social media, but keeps doubling down. Here’s two different articles on the story…
The governor of Missouri still doesn’t know how websites work
According to him looking at website source code is a crime
www.theverge.com