Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Iowa Officials Claim Confusion Over Scope Led to Arrest of Pen-Testers

posted by Fnord666 on Friday September 20 2019, @07:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the just-doing-my-job dept.

Freeman writes:

The document showed that the state authorized Coalfire's team to "perform lock-picking activities to attempt to gain access to locked areas." But the document also stated the testers should "talk your way into areas" and allowed for "limited physical bypass."

The rules of engagement also dictated that the state authorities said they would not notify law enforcement of the penetration test.

[...] At 12:30am on the morning of September 11, penetration testers Justin Wynn and Gary Demercurio were caught with lock picks inside the Dallas County courthouse by Dallas County Sherriff's Department officers. They presented documents showing they had authorization from the state; the officers contacted state officials on the document, who verified that the test was authorized. But they arrested Wynn and Demurcurio anyway and charged them with burglary.

Wynn and Demurcurio are free on bail and have waived an initial hearing. They still face charges, despite state officials' apology to county officials.

Related: https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=19/09/17/0641246

Coalfire's Comments:https://www.coalfire.com/News-and-Events/Press-Releases/Coalfire-Comments-on-Pen-Tests-for-Iowa-Judicial

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/iowa-officials-claim-confusion-over-scope-led-to-arrest-of-pen-testers/

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Iowa Officials Claim Confusion Over Scope Led to Arrest of Pen-Testers | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 24 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @07:09AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 21 2019, @07:09AM (#896747)

    I should also point out that the power to prosecute crimes has been almost fully delegated to the Counties. There is little that Iowa can do to stop this. The only real option I see if Dallas County doesn't want to play is that the Attorney General's office can take over the prosecution using the Area Prosecutions Division process by claiming there is a conflict of interest in the prosecution, since the County itself is one of the alleged victims of the crime.