More than 46,000 people from all around the world flocked to the Facebook page of Budapesti Közlekedési Központ (BKK), a public transportation authority in Hungary, to post a statement and one-star review in support of an arrested security researcher.
The arrest reportedly took place after a teenager told BKK about a security flaw in its online ticketing system. The bug allowed the young man to easily gain access to the company’s website by pressing F12 and opening up developer options. From there, he was able to change the cost of a ticket originally priced at $35 to 20 cents. Instead of awarding the 18-year-old for his efforts, BKK chose to call local police and tell them how the unnamed researcher hacked its systems, according to Bleeping Computer.
Police reportedly arrested the man in the middle of the night. He later wrote about the incident claiming he never used or sold the ticket and told BKK about its security flaw “about two minutes” after discovering it. The white hat researcher’s post sparked outrage online. Facebook users from Hungary were the first to storm the BKK’s page followed by international accounts from around the world. Many of the 46,000 users who submitted 1-star reviews protested the man’s arrest by posting his comment on BKK’s profile.
Here is an example of one of the reviews:
https://www.facebook.com/darksearinox/posts/10155512487669929:0
The arrest of this seemingly innocent citizen comes at a tough time for Hungary, a country whose controversial political outlook puts it at odds with European Union policy. Hungary most recently sided against the EU to allow Poland to overhaul its Supreme Court. Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, spoke out against Brussels, saying the EU was out of touch with its citizens and should stop telling Eastern states how to run their own countries. Orban then slammed the EU for creating what he calls a “Muzlimized Europe.” The Hungarian government also recently ended an anti-George Soros billboard campaign that was criticized for having anti-Semetic undertones.
BKK did not respond to a request for comment at press time.
H/T Bleeping Computer