California's Secretary of State's office is scrambling to clean up a mess, but this time it's not political – it's pornographic. An unpleasant surprise awaited Google users hunting for business-related information on the state's bizfile Online system; instead, they stumbled upon PDFs riddled with links to adult content and cash app offers. This tarnishing of an official government resource, as reported by ABC10, has prompted an investigation by state officials.
Upon discovering the issue, the state's response was swift, with "numerous" documents removed hastily to stem the exposure. "A bad actor uploaded non-business documents to the bizfile Online system," a spokesperson for the Secretary of State said, as noted by ABC10. These files, intended solely for business proceedings, instead became a gateway for the public to view these unauthorized postings. "It does not allow exposure of any other SOS documents or data," the spokesperson added.
California isn't alone in facing this digital defilement. A slew of government sites across the United States have recently encountered similar attacks. The Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District and Kansas attorney general's office both experienced unwanted instructions on cultivating AI-generated nude imagery, courtesy of their web-hosting partner, Granicus. Granicus has acknowledged the issue, stating to outlets that among the government agencies affected, "a small subset are Granicus customers," as per a report by the Los Angeles Times.
Brian Penny, an investigative freelance journalist and AI researcher, flagged this cyber-breach to the attention of the media. In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, Penny details his startling discovery of an AI sex ad on the Nevada Department of Transportation's site, which led him to uncover these same seedy tactics aimed at 38 government agencies across 18 states and three countries. As Penny pointedly notes, cybersecurity should be a high priority for local governments because if their networks are vulnerable, personal information and credibility are at risk.
