Experts: California lacked safeguards for gun owner info

By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Cybersecurity experts say the California Department of Justice apparently failed to follow basic security procedures on its website. That lapse exposed the personal information of potentially hundreds of thousands of gun owners. The website was designed to only show general data about the number and location of concealed carry gun permits. But for about 24 hours starting Monday a spreadsheet with names and personal information was just a few clicks away, ready for review or downloading. Experts say there should have been controls to make sure the information stayed out of the reach of unwanted parties. The sensitive data should have been encrypted.