this post was submitted on 13 May 2026

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Twin brothers wipe 96 gov't databases minutes after being fired (arstechnica.com)

submitted 6 months ago by FTonsilStones@lemmy.ca to c/technology@lemmy.world

74 comments fedilink hide all child comments

A case study in why credentials are revoked before firings.

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[–] Cytobit@piefed.social 165 points 6 months ago (16 children)

Why were they storing passwords in plaintext in the databases?!

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[–] LadyMeow@lemmy.blahaj.zone 161 points 6 months ago

First time reading about government systems, eh?

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[–] WereCat@lemmy.world 48 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Why not? National Safety Department of Slovak Republic (Narodny Bezpecnostny Urad) had password NBUSK123… just government things

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[–] testaccount789@sh.itjust.works 30 points 6 months ago (1 child)

No, that was a bit different.
login: nbusr
password: nbusr123

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[–] WereCat@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

my bad

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[–] msage@programming.dev 11 points 6 months ago

The K in password doesnt match Republic in the name.

Totally secure.

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[–] echodot@feddit.uk 42 points 6 months ago (6 children)

Because like all critical infrastructure it was setup by somebody's kid on work experience

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[–] IWW4@lemmy.zip 19 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Or some poor guy who is setting it up, because it is a one off and just get it done project, that metastasizes into a fucking mess.

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[–] scytale@piefed.zip 7 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Or lowest bidder contractor.

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[–] IWW4@lemmy.zip 5 points 6 months ago (3 children)

All contracts go to the lowest bidder.

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[–] village604@adultswim.fan 5 points 6 months ago (1 child)

Fun fact, if the federal government contracts your company for a service, you arent legally allowed to sell it others for less.

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[–] IWW4@lemmy.zip 1 point 6 months ago

Correct.

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[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works -1 points 6 months ago

That's only usually true, but heavily depends on category. If someone is offering some service like software or managing employee benefits it can often be outweighed by other factors.

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[–] betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world 18 points 6 months ago

It's like leaving your car door unlocked in a bad neighborhood so your window doesn't get smashed for the $.36 in the center console. Attacker might take the prize and go without showing that everything around it is just as poorly-built.

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[–] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

Well how else would they help the users if they ever forgot their passwords? Duh.

/s

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[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Probably for the same reasons web browsers store them in plain text: They don‘t care.

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[–] FiniteBanjo@feddit.online 1 point 6 months ago

Pretty sure thats part of the illegal thing done by these two, no?

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