Missouri gov. threatens to sue newspaper that notified state of web data flaw
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Source: Axios / Yahoo
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) on Thursday suggested he was prepared to prosecute the staff of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after the newspaper published a story exposing a data risk on the state education department's website.
Driving the news: The Post-Dispatch notified the state Tuesday after discovering the vulnerability, which left the Social Security numbers of 100,000 staffers vulnerable to public disclosure. Parson's remarks Thursday echoed the rhetoric of a statement by the department, describing the reporter as a "hacker."
At a news conference Thursday, Parson said the "individual" who alerted the state had gotten the private information through a "multi-step process," and that they were trying to “embarrass the state and sell headlines for their news outlet."
"The state is committed to bring to justice anyone who hacked our system and anyone who aided and abetted them to do so," Parson said.
"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."
Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/missouri-gov-threatens-sue-newspaper-021609342.html
Not only is this awful stupidity on the part of the governor and his employees, it's an attack on the First Amendment and fundamental freedoms to report government incompetence. It's authoritarian.
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