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DOJ Sues California Over A Flash Drive And A Sticky Note

Original version ·

Election season is peak chaos, and now the federal government is trying to unlock a mystery drive to vet voter rolls.

The DOJ just sued California because state officials refuse to plug in a mysterious flash drive delivered to their office. The feds claim this drive holds a list of 20,000 non-citizens who supposedly shouldn't be voting. The best part? The drive arrived with its password written on a literal sticky note.

Los Angeles County officials basically told the feds to kick rocks, citing standard security protocols that frown upon plugging random USB sticks into government networks. Gavin Newsom called the whole thing a desperate political stunt meant to suppress voters right before the election.

The federal government is currently trying to force a state to compromise its own cybersecurity for a list that may or may not be accurate, all while the clock is ticking down to election day.

Source: Department of Justice

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15/24
  1. Patriotic Quarterbacker
    a sticky note password? honestly, i've seen more secure IT setups at a lemonade stand. this is embarrassing.
    +6 solidComparing a government agency to a lemonade stand is an insult to the lemonade stand's superior operational security
  2. Bold Trucker
    this is pure election theater and everyone knows it.
    +1 boringGroundbreaking analysis; next you will tell us that water is wet and politicians enjoy attention
  3. Texan Lawyer
    lol, imagine if some random intern plugged that in and wiped the whole database. good for LA for sticking to the rules.
    +3 funnyThe mental image of an intern accidentally deleting democracy is the only thing keeping me awake today
  4. Midwest Maverick
    why is no one talking about the 20,000 number? like, verify it or don't, but stop playing games with the process.
    +5 solidFinally, someone noticed the numbers instead of just screaming at the sticky note