Warning Reporters: searching google and copying files is now hacking

[Kennedy 0]

Quote

Reporters use Google, find breach, get branded as “hackers”
Scripps reporters uncover mishandling of customer data; companies threaten to sue.

Call it security through absurdity: a pair of telecom firms have branded reporters for Scripps News as "hackers" after they discovered the personal data of over 170,000 customers—including social security numbers and other identifying data that could be used for identity theft—sitting on a publicly accessible server. While the reporters claim to have discovered the data with a simple Google search, the firms' lawyer claims they used "automated" means to gain access to the company's confidential data and that in doing so the reporters violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act with their leet hacker skills.
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However, Vcare and the two telecom companies assert that the reporters "hacked" their way into the data using "automated" methods to access the data. And what was this malicious hacking tool that penetrated the security of Vcare's servers? In a letter sent to Scripps News by Jonathan D. Lee, counsel for both of the cell carriers, Lee said that Vcare's research had shown that the reporters were "using the 'Wget' program to search for and download the Companies' confidential data." GNU Wget is a free and open source tool used for batch downloads over HTTP and FTP. Lee claimed Vcare's investigation found the files were bulk-downloaded via two Scripps IP addresses.
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I'm waiting for the request to Mass USADA to prosecute under CFAA.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[-Joey- 0]

So instead of taking responsibility for their own incompetence and negligence, they are trying to attack the people who exposed them; in my experience this is how hacking accusations typically work.

Skydiving is serious business

[Stumpy 284]

This is nothing new. It happened here recently I think - when expensive security consultants get busted like this they tend to do the CYA dance and blame everyone else.
Doesnt usually go anywhere.

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[Arvoitus 1]

Like I said previously on AT&T case, I hope the idiots who wrote the code to that system get some jail time. That should but some thought into some idiots writing code like this.

Your rights end where my feelings begin.