It’s obvious that some “traditionalist” with old-school views of passwords (typed out in an unsecured workbook, or just “password”) has hijacked this synod. Despicable.
This is part of why some people don’t take the Church seriously as an institution. Simple security measures should not have been difficult to implement, especially if confidentiality was supposed to be a priority.
“The Catholic Church is an institution I am bound to hold divine — but for unbelievers a proof of its divinity might be found in the fact that no merely human institution conducted with such knavish imbecility would have lasted a fortnight.”
Sigh....can we please appoint people with the necessary skill sets or the humility to obtain the necessary skilled assistance so the Vatican can safely enter the 20th century? Then maybe we can progress to the 21st?
There needs to be some humility on the part of the hierarchy in seeing that they really suck at many very serious practical aspects of running a large organization.
This does not necessarily require the laity taking things over (we're not Protestants after all!), we can skill up the clerics, but y'all need to get at least some consultants in. This is sad.
Some of us would be willing to help. (not me - modern cybersecurity is not my strong point. But maybe stronger than they have....)
When I was in high school, it was pre-web, but internet existed, and email definitely existed. I was at a nerd high school, and some of us super-special nerds were on the Unix system, which some of the senior staff used to save their emails on... especially emails with their long-distance SOs... but they didn't necessarily know how to secure their files.
So, when EVERYBODY realized that a staffer was saving her emails to a bf with no protection on the system... well, pretty much everybody was reading them. So I tried to figure out how to tell her.
So I figured out how to spoof email addresses.
and I sent an anonymous email to her with instructions how to protect the old email files, and how to save the new emails going forward. And my fellow students were annoyed they didn't have some juicy material to read they weren't supposed to. Only my boyfriend knew who had cut off the supply.
It is impossible at present to tell if this breach of basic computing security is just old fashioned incompetence or a deliberate unveiling by someone playing a political game. I would offer my experience in IT security to the organisers, but I'm sure I would be persona non grata. It will be fascinating to compare the sum of the leaked information with the summary document which is due to be produced on 28th October and which will allegedly form the basis for the second half of the Synod in 2024.
Making no attempt at all to secure something is old fashioned incompetence. I'm sure many political games could be played as a result though (the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed, etc., except we pretty much know everything that anyone anywhere thinks at any point in time already, which is wearying and I am considering taking up a hobby of studied ignorance.)
I wondered how another source knew how each participant only got to seriously discuss 20% of the topics. Now I know. Sort of like Kentucky, where I grew up, passing a law in 1975 requiring judges to have law degrees instead of just winning election to the office. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to get people kicking and screaming into the previous century. I hope they are properly embarrassed.
"While the synodal working group reports make it possible to identify the members of individual working groups correlated to the reports they produced, The Pillar has elected not to do so publicly, following Pope Francis’ request for “a certain restraint” in press coverage of the synodal process."
I understand why you're doing this and probably would have done the same, but it also means that you know who the members are and are keeping them secret, which is an odd position to be in...
While this situation is incredibly stupid on the part of show runners of the Synod, I respect The Pillar very prudent choice not to publish the information.
I'm sorry, then I misunderstood the story. I understood it to say that the documents were available on the internet and that other people had them, not just The Pillar.
I would resume donating to Peter's Pence if I had some assurance that it would be used to pay a cloud security engineer, or even someone's grand-niece or grand-nephew who moonlights as one (my first summer job was more-or-less nepotism and I am not against it if it gets results.)
I don't know that the headline was intended to sound goofy, but for some reason it made me laugh out loud when I first read it. A tongue-twister crossed with an oxymoron. But... the thing is called "Synod on Synodality," which is a tongue-twister crossed with a tautology, so I guess it's par for the course?
Who runs the dicastry for cyber security and can we maybe get someone with a more progressive perspective around multifactor authentication?
🤣🤣
It’s obvious that some “traditionalist” with old-school views of passwords (typed out in an unsecured workbook, or just “password”) has hijacked this synod. Despicable.
No, it's a lot simpler than that.
*clicks "forgot password"*
"What was Pope Francis' high school mascot?"
^best Pillar comment in at least the past 6 weeks lmao
This is part of why some people don’t take the Church seriously as an institution. Simple security measures should not have been difficult to implement, especially if confidentiality was supposed to be a priority.
💯
Honestly even if this synod weren't planning on having heightened confidentiality, this is an unbelievable lack of prudence on data management.
I try to be a faithful Catholic, but I agree that incompetence or negligence like this from the highest authorities is a real barrier to faith.
“The Catholic Church is an institution I am bound to hold divine — but for unbelievers a proof of its divinity might be found in the fact that no merely human institution conducted with such knavish imbecility would have lasted a fortnight.”
—Hilaire Belloc
Yikes!!
Sigh....can we please appoint people with the necessary skill sets or the humility to obtain the necessary skilled assistance so the Vatican can safely enter the 20th century? Then maybe we can progress to the 21st?
There needs to be some humility on the part of the hierarchy in seeing that they really suck at many very serious practical aspects of running a large organization.
This does not necessarily require the laity taking things over (we're not Protestants after all!), we can skill up the clerics, but y'all need to get at least some consultants in. This is sad.
Some of us would be willing to help. (not me - modern cybersecurity is not my strong point. But maybe stronger than they have....)
Ha! The Lord works in mysterious ways!!
Who is so great a god as our God? You are the God who works wonders. Ps. 77:13-14
All the synod attendees will get a free year of credit monitoring walking with them.
lol. Someone leaked the docs, likely on purpose or absentmindedly, and people are getting all serious about cybersecurity.
>cybersecurity failure at the Vatican
>people, in turn, talk about cybersecurity
what were you expecting?
Bro, if they patch this there are going to be leaks to the press using other methods.
I have a story to tell.
When I was in high school, it was pre-web, but internet existed, and email definitely existed. I was at a nerd high school, and some of us super-special nerds were on the Unix system, which some of the senior staff used to save their emails on... especially emails with their long-distance SOs... but they didn't necessarily know how to secure their files.
So, when EVERYBODY realized that a staffer was saving her emails to a bf with no protection on the system... well, pretty much everybody was reading them. So I tried to figure out how to tell her.
So I figured out how to spoof email addresses.
and I sent an anonymous email to her with instructions how to protect the old email files, and how to save the new emails going forward. And my fellow students were annoyed they didn't have some juicy material to read they weren't supposed to. Only my boyfriend knew who had cut off the supply.
This may seem unrelated to this piece. But.
There are many choices to be made.
JUST SAYING.
a separate story, also related.
I like playing poker, not that I've played in a very long time. But sometimes people get sloppy in holding their cards.
So I would warn them at least one time if they were a bit loose in holding their cards (As in, I could see their cards that I shouldn't see).
After one warning, I decided they were fair game. They were warned.
*types ferociously*
"we're in the mainframe."
It is impossible at present to tell if this breach of basic computing security is just old fashioned incompetence or a deliberate unveiling by someone playing a political game. I would offer my experience in IT security to the organisers, but I'm sure I would be persona non grata. It will be fascinating to compare the sum of the leaked information with the summary document which is due to be produced on 28th October and which will allegedly form the basis for the second half of the Synod in 2024.
Making no attempt at all to secure something is old fashioned incompetence. I'm sure many political games could be played as a result though (the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed, etc., except we pretty much know everything that anyone anywhere thinks at any point in time already, which is wearying and I am considering taking up a hobby of studied ignorance.)
Please don't. Your thinking is helpful to the rest of us.
I bet the Vatican’s Minecraft server doesn’t have a password to join either
pwd1234, I bet
1-2-3-4-5
Same as Pope Francis's luggage.
If only Substack let me post images of Mel Brooks laughing his head off...
I agree. I do my best argumentation and commenting through the conveyance of memes.
un: admin
pw: admin
Also works ;-)
popefrank2013: "no latin on my minecraft server guys"
[xX_cardinalburke_Xx has disconnected]
I wondered how another source knew how each participant only got to seriously discuss 20% of the topics. Now I know. Sort of like Kentucky, where I grew up, passing a law in 1975 requiring judges to have law degrees instead of just winning election to the office. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to get people kicking and screaming into the previous century. I hope they are properly embarrassed.
A tragicomedy of stupidity.
"While the synodal working group reports make it possible to identify the members of individual working groups correlated to the reports they produced, The Pillar has elected not to do so publicly, following Pope Francis’ request for “a certain restraint” in press coverage of the synodal process."
I understand why you're doing this and probably would have done the same, but it also means that you know who the members are and are keeping them secret, which is an odd position to be in...
Leverage for potential blackmail and/or attempts at silencing the Pillar?
LOL, how? The Pillar isn't the only media outlet that saw the docs, and apparently other people did too.
I’m not aware of any other outlet with these texts, none have reported on them, though I suppose it is a possibility.
While this situation is incredibly stupid on the part of show runners of the Synod, I respect The Pillar very prudent choice not to publish the information.
Y'all are a class act.
For clarity: Ed discusses at length in today's Pillar Post what our approach will be to these texts.
I'm sorry, then I misunderstood the story. I understood it to say that the documents were available on the internet and that other people had them, not just The Pillar.
The story says the documents were available on the internet. I'm just saying that I haven't seen anyone else say that they have them.
It shows they are being faithful to the Church.
🤡🤡🤡
it's meme magic
I would resume donating to Peter's Pence if I had some assurance that it would be used to pay a cloud security engineer, or even someone's grand-niece or grand-nephew who moonlights as one (my first summer job was more-or-less nepotism and I am not against it if it gets results.)
I don't know that the headline was intended to sound goofy, but for some reason it made me laugh out loud when I first read it. A tongue-twister crossed with an oxymoron. But... the thing is called "Synod on Synodality," which is a tongue-twister crossed with a tautology, so I guess it's par for the course?
The Vatican really just seems like clown world.