Summerteeth, do you think hackers care any more about whats legal than a robber, a murderer, or a thief? They do it for bragging rights. Why do they feel the need to brag? WHO KNOWS! Nobody know why people do the things they do! That don’t stop them from doing it. Hackers are not idiots, at least most of them are not. I guess they just like to prove that they, working out of their dorm rooms and basements, are smarter than the programmers working for big companies like Microsoft making 150K a year. I didn’t say it was legal, or even ethical, but that don’t keep them from doing it! No more so than a car windows keeps a thief from stealing your purse,radio or GPS unit!
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LEGAL DISCLAIMER: DEW26M does not condone, endorse, nor participate in hacking of any kind. If you are caught doing any type of ILLEGAL hacking, you may be fined, imprisoned, or possible killed by the Men In Black! Knowledge is power, and most government agencies don’t want you processing power!!!!! hahahaha

Frankly, who cares what you find “Obvious”! The only thing obvious is that sub-standard intellect.

All the discussion of how difficult or easy to hack the SO website is a moot point. The true discussion is the moral and legal implications. The only argument can be 1. Is it illegal to access a website that you are not allowed to access? 2. Is it legal to use said illgotten information for financial gain? 3. Is it morally wrong to have an unfair advantage over other companies (read unfair as unearned)? 4. If its morally ok to use illgotten information as a bargaining tool, does the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have a mandate? I think this is all very obvious.

I never said they weren’t responsible, we are in agreement with that. They are completely responsible. However that don’t mean the Bondsmen didn’t break the law. It’s kinda pathetic that the MCSO took so long to catch on to what was being done. I’m pretty sure if you check back in a few weeks you’ll probably see the “HTTPS” at the top of the page, and a little “secure” lock icon on the bottom of the screen. Than again, this is the MCSO we talking about, hahahahaha!

You can’t make a phone call until you’ve been booked. Neither can you make bail until you’ve been booked. Therefore if the bail bondsman has the info before you can make a call to let your people know your…err… status, that means your people can have a jump start on getting you out in maybe 6 hours instead of the normal 12 hours. Yeah, I can see where that would bother some people Then you get a guy convicted to serve 5 years and some jail employ misreads (illiterate) a fax and lets him go. Figure that one out.
And just who is it in the jail who leaks info to the press? Or is that the infamous police spokesperson. Is that a person so awful at real police work that they can only talk about other officers arrests? Sounds like a position of demotion. So what does it whether it’ s"obtained” by computer or leaked by personnel, there will always be a weak link. Good Day!

“Either way, the MCSO page you are referring to HAS NO ENCRYPTION whatsoever. So it would not take anything more than a 8th grade hacker to get what he wanted from that site.”

Exactly my point. The SO is responsible for themselves getting “hacked”. But, the only victim is the public, who data was taken.

dougstech, as I said previously, I’m not a hacker. I have many friends who are though, and were able to break down Sprint’s (was NexTel) website, and completely change the entire arrangement. One of them is still in jail today for it. I’m not going to argue with you about it, if you wanna believe that a non-encrypted password is enough to keep you safe, you stay in that bubble. I’m just telling you what I know and have seen done. Bruteforce cracks are a thing of the past, mostly only used for stealing AIM and HOTMAIL passwords. Either way, the MCSO page you are referring to HAS NO ENCRYPTION whatsoever. So it would not take anything more than a 8th grade hacker to get what he wanted from that site. There’s always the possibility that it was retrieved using a key-logger or some other sort of malware. I could do that from right here in Canada, all it would take was a e-mail sent to a PC with poor or no anti-virus software installed. HAPPY HACKING!!!

There should be a pretty good trail on all those computers they confiscated.

My bet is that someone passed along a password.  The bonding people and the people in the SO have daily contact with each other.

DEW26M, thats where you are wrong. You DO have to be on the same network, or have some hands in the network such as a malicious program on the network.

In that case, the SO should have better protected their network. It is, after all, our information at stake.

And no, its NOT easily done. If it were as easy as you say, passwords would be useless if anyone could just get them.

dougstech, I’m not a hacker, but I’m not an idiot either. You don’t have to be on the same network in order to intercept a user name and password. It’s easily done, and there’s tons of software, and even complete operating systems designed to do just that.
It could be complex, but nevertheless where there’s a will there’s a way.