Ignorant Missouri Governor Threatens To Prosecute Journalist

Missouri Governor Mike Parson has accused a journalist working for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of being a ‘hacker’ because he reported security holes. The journalist reported his findings, which was a flaw in the web app that lets anyone see over 100,000 teachers’ Social Security numbers, directly to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Instead of thanking the person for finding and reporting the flaw, Parson said it was a ‘political game’ meant to ’embarrass the state.’

The governor, who must be a republican, referred the case to the Cole County Prosecutor, and even has the State Patrol investigating ‘the case’. The journalist’s lawyer maintains that his client ‘did the responsible thing’ by sharing the flaw with the government to get it fixed.

Prosecutors are not expected to file charges because it will be hard to convict someone for hacking when all they had to do was right click the page and view the source. Also, he reported it directly to the authorities.