Man 'Hacks' Government Auction Website, Sells Himself Cars For $1

[rcooled]

"Evan James Coker apparently found some flaw in the General Service Administration’s auction page, which allowed him to bid up the price of various auctions but “win” them in the system by paying a single dollar."

https://jalopnik.com/man-hacks-government-auction-website-sells-himself-car-1851281755?utm_source=jalopnik_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2024-02-23

[GH85Carrera]

Buy low sell high. Very profitable, but he might have some legal issues.

[Bob Kontak]

Makes you wonder who put the system together of if it was ever audited. Better yet, had it been reviewed/tested by a seasoned IT person(s) before it was launched.

Had he not been greedy he would have fared better. I bet.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Makes you wonder who put the system together of if it was ever audited. Better yet, had it been reviewed/tested by a seasoned IT person(s) before it was launched.

Seasoned IT people aren’t working for government salaries. Hell they earn more staying in India than working for the Feds.

[varmint]

There’s an idea going around that you can discount your meal by entering a negative number into the custom tip option.

Hilarious if true.

[varmint]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Makes you wonder who put the system together of if it was ever audited. Better yet, had it been reviewed/tested by a seasoned IT person(s) before it was launched.

Had he not been greedy he would have fared better. I bet.

Remember Superman two or three. Richard Pryor plays a programmer who figured out how to collect all the thirds of a cent rounding errors in his companies system. In one scene the executives have figured out something is happening, but complain that they have no way to track the thief unless he does something massively stupid. Then they hear a crash, look outside ,and see Pryor crashing his new Ferrari in the parking lot.

[id10t]

Originally Posted by Alan A

Seasoned IT people aren’t working for government salaries. Hell they earn more staying in India than working for the Feds.

I didnt chase dollars, needing the stability and assurance, the good benefits help. And once I had some freedom to move around I had 20 of my 30 years in, and staying in the system at a different employer wouldnt do anything but add stress

[id10t]

Originally Posted by varmint

There’s an idea going around that you can discount your meal by entering a negative number into the custom tip option.

Hilarious if true.

Bad input validation especially on the front end side of things is incredibly common

Back end might have suffered from bad spec instead of bad implementation ...