
F12 is Not a Crime! Except in Missouri.
05/24/23 • 9 min
In October 21, 2021, Josh Renaud, a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, privately alerted a government authority that their website had vulnerabilities. In response, the governor of Missouri, Michael L. Parson, brought charges against the journalist for "hacking." This story would be hilarious if it wasn't true. Update: In July 2022, Josh Renaud was awarded The National Press Club press freedom award for his work.
- Get the "F12 IS NOT A CRIME" T-shirt
- Original St. Louis Post-Dispatch article: Missouri teachers' Social Security numbers at risk on state agency's website (requires subscription to view)
- Arstechnica article: Emails show what happened before Missouri gov. falsely called journalist a “hacker”
- Governor Parson's Facebook post - Enjoy the comments.
- Missouri State Highway Patrol report
- Fundraising video: Gov. Parson holds fake news accountable. Enjoy the comments.
Join our Patreon to listen ad-free!
In October 21, 2021, Josh Renaud, a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, privately alerted a government authority that their website had vulnerabilities. In response, the governor of Missouri, Michael L. Parson, brought charges against the journalist for "hacking." This story would be hilarious if it wasn't true. Update: In July 2022, Josh Renaud was awarded The National Press Club press freedom award for his work.
- Get the "F12 IS NOT A CRIME" T-shirt
- Original St. Louis Post-Dispatch article: Missouri teachers' Social Security numbers at risk on state agency's website (requires subscription to view)
- Arstechnica article: Emails show what happened before Missouri gov. falsely called journalist a “hacker”
- Governor Parson's Facebook post - Enjoy the comments.
- Missouri State Highway Patrol report
- Fundraising video: Gov. Parson holds fake news accountable. Enjoy the comments.
Join our Patreon to listen ad-free!
Previous Episode

The Refund Scam: How it Works
You get an email telling you you've been billed for a product you never ordered, and when you call for a refund, you somehow you get an excess refund and have to send back the difference. Find out how scammers manipulate people into sending them "excess refund money" from a nonexistent refund, and what you can do to keep it from happening to others. Shout-out to YouTuber Kitboga for showing me how this scam works.
Join our Patreon to listen ad-free!
Next Episode

I Got Scammed! The White Van Scam
Well, it finally happened: I got scammed! I bought a high-end projector at a price that was too good to be true, because it wasn't true. Don't fall for the White Van scam!
White van speaker scam on Wikipedia
The Art and Math of Cryptography at Amazon.com
Join our Patreon to listen ad-free!
How Hacks Happen - F12 is Not a Crime! Except in Missouri.
Transcript
F12 is not a crime! Except in Missouri.
0:02
Hello, hack Dodgers here at How Hacks Happen, we have a special challenge for everyone listening.
0:10
If you have a web browser open, I'd like you to go to your favorite website. I'm going to open amazon.com. Now, press the F12 key. What should happen is you see the HTML code that defines what gets shown on the website. Now this works with any website and any browser. You can see the code behind any website just by pressing F12.
0
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/how-hacks-happen-685977/f12-is-not-a-crime-except-in-missouri-91011976"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to f12 is not a crime! except in missouri. on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy