paxamericana:

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson wants to prosecute a journalist who warned the state that a government website left school teachers and administrators’ Social Security numbers exposed.

Parson called St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Josh Renaud a “hacker” and vowed to seek criminal prosecution at a press conference on Thursday. Renaud’s “crime?” Clicking “view source” on a publicly available webpage.

“The state does not take this matter lightly,” Parson said, according to the Missouri Independent. “This administration is standing up against any and all perpetrators who attempt to steal personal information and harm Missourians.”

Parson said he referred the case to the Cole County prosecutor and asked the Missouri State Highway Patrol to investigate as well.

On Wednesday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that a flaw in the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education left exposed the SSNs of the department employees, including teachers, administrators, and counselors. Renaud reported that the SSNs were visible simply by viewing the HTML source code of the vulnerable pages, something that anyone can do with two clicks on any modern browser.