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The Internet Government Security The Almighty Buck United States

Ohio Stops Kicking Workers Off Unemployment After Hacker Targets Its Website (vice.com) 247

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: The state of Ohio won't deny unemployment benefits to people who refuse to work during the COVID-19 pandemic after people targeted the website it was using to track these workers, according to officials at the state's Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS). The state previously set up a "fraud" website encouraging employers to report those who refused to go back on the job, angering workers and labor rights advocates. State officials say they are now reconsidering the policy after Motherboard reported that a hacker created a script to flood the "COVID-19 Fraud" website with junk data, with the goal of making it impossible to process these claims.

"No benefits are being denied right now as a result of a person's decision not to return to work while we continue to evaluate the policy," ODJFS Director Kimberly Hall told Cleveland.com. "Because Ohio is still examining its policies in this area, no adjudications concerning a refusal to return to work have been initiated," Bret Crow, a spokesperson for the department, told Motherboard in an email.
"While the hacker's script has since stopped working after changes to Ohio's website, another hacker has taken up the project and plans to release an updated version," adds Motherboard.
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Ohio Stops Kicking Workers Off Unemployment After Hacker Targets Its Website

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  • I honestly don't understand why there can't just be a huge civil suit. The government is literally denying some groups of people the ability to work, and doing nothing to address the obvious devistation that it's causing.

    • Yes if the government tells you "sir, you are not allowed to make a living" they should be making you whole by paying your wages until you may return to work. Unfortunately that's socialism, and was never seriously considered.

    • The government is literally denying some groups of people the ability to work

      Nope, they are denying certain professions. That isn't targeting groups of people, and the entire premise here is that a benefits system does exist and it's questioning whether it should apply to people who could go to work but refuse to.

      Even if the government were doing what you were saying it's questionable whether a lawsuit would have any legal standing, but as it is, your assessment of the situation is waaay off.

      • by sjames ( 1099 )

        Could is a relative term. Some states have carelessly told all sorts of businesses that they are free to re-open and aren't doing much to enforce any conditions on the re-opening.

      • The government is literally denying some groups of people the ability to work

        Nope, they are denying certain professions.

        Well, that's splitting hairs to me, but I'll go with it. These professions that you mention all have professionals that are directly associated with them. These professionals are being denied the ability to work and make money due to a government order. These professionals should all band together and sue the agencies that are forcing them into poverty.

        I know a single mom that owns her own salon. She is forced, by the government, to close shop until further notice. She's applied for unemployment and ev

        • "BTW, in some counties, at least here in Alabama, the sheriffs have decided that they won't enforce these city's make-shift new "COVID-19" ordances, because of how stupid they are."

          Are you saying that's acceptable? If so, how to you feel about sanctuary cities deciding what laws to enforce "because of how stupid they are"?

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday May 13, 2020 @11:17PM (#60058486)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Wednesday May 13, 2020 @11:35PM (#60058526)

    The good news: You no longer have to make a choice between risking death and having enough income to survive.

    The bad news: You live in Ohio.

  • by h33t l4x0r ( 4107715 ) on Thursday May 14, 2020 @01:11AM (#60058658)
    I'll accept shitposter, or senior python developer, but that's as high as I'll go.
    • What are you talking about! These are all hackers. They use the Linux to attack kernels using bugs in the internet. The fact that we left our login and password as admin:password doesn't make them any less evil hacker geniuses.

    • Well, considering that python has become one of the leading languages when it comes to writing exploits and POCs...

  • by CODiNE ( 27417 ) on Thursday May 14, 2020 @06:53AM (#60059024) Homepage

    You have to wonder about an agency that has such a large collections department. The one I went to years go had a full third of its office space dedicated to that. While I was on unemployment I was able to get a contract IT job installing some equipment for $50 each install plus mileage. Most of the paycheck was mileage as I'd drive hours to the locations. After a handful of jobs I sent in my invoice and received $900. On reporting this at the unemployment office I was immediately accused of lying to them. Failure to report. The fine, $1,200. I then understood why they had so many collections officers.

  • Up till now, in the USA at least, unemployment pay was fairly straightforward. It was literally a govt. mandated insurance program that let people collect a percentage of their previous job's pay for a limited time, as long as they'd worked enough hours to qualify for the coverage. It was subject to some basic terms; a requirement you document a weekly effort to apply for another job to at least two or three places. And some states would randomly require people report to an unemployment office in person, w

    • That $600 comes from the US Treasury department, not the state unemployment fund - so it convolutes everything. It caused states to stop demanding people prove they're still looking for a job and caused people to have expectations it was a welfare payment they were simply "owed".

      It all comes from the pool of taxes people pay, so I'm not sure why it matter which particular pot it came out of.

      Also, I know a couple people collecting unemployment in Washington state right now - they are still required to report that they're looking for work. As to "provably" - your job search has never been "provable". Several decades ago I collected unemployment for a couple months. Yes, I did have to list four places weekly where I had asked... which accomplishes nothing. They didn't ask if you fille

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