"I dared two expert hackers to destroy my life. Here’s what happened."

I dared two expert hackers to destroy my life. Here’s what happened.

Pretty fascinating article I found while browsing the security section of reddit. Just goes to show if someone wants to make your life a living hell, and has the skills to do it, they can. Fortunately, most of us are to boring for anyone to really care about, but we should still be using good security practices to keep our private life, private.

Good read!

Great summary... good lord though. Reminds me of a time that some college students were discussing some hacker who made a generator explode by applying and removing load 100s of times a second

Great summary... good lord though. Reminds me of a time that some college students were discussing some hacker who made a generator explode by applying and removing load 100s of times a second

Oh man! That is a scary thing indeed.

Oh my god... if you didn't watch the video do so. The part where Jessica (the social engineer person) called the guys cell phone company is absolutely incredible.

No kidding. As I remember the tale: "He used an automated circut to add and remove load very quickly. This caused the generator to speed up and slow down rapidly (similar to what Stuxnet did to the centrifuges). The generator was litterally bouncing off the ground before it exploded (and it was an industrial model too!)"

I haven't yet but I will soon

Great summary... good lord though. Reminds me of a time that some college students were discussing some hacker who made a generator explode by applying and removing load 100s of times a second

That's some Watch_Dogs stuff there.

It's ridiculous how empathy can falter big company support so easily, that phishing part of the video was ridiculous. I've told most of my providers to explicitly not allow my wife or anyone to be allowed into the account, even as an add-on in the future. She's permitted to pay the bills, and that's it.

That's kind of funny that the guy fell for an easy phishing email, just double-checking that link would prevent that one so easily. Awareness is definitely key.

 

That's kind of funny that the guy fell for an easy phishing email, just double-checking that link would prevent that one so easily. Awareness is definitely key.

 

I was absolutely surprised he clicked that link, even when he knew that he was currently being hacked.

Edited by DeimosChaos, 25 February 2016 - 12:39 PM.

 

 

That's kind of funny that the guy fell for an easy phishing email, just double-checking that link would prevent that one so easily. Awareness is definitely key.

 

I was absolutely surprised he clicked that link, even when he knew that he was currently being hacked.

 

remember, the domain was only one letter off. That being said, I am surprised myself too.

Moral of the story....be careful what you ask for, you may get it a thousandfold.

Absolutely. Good thing these guys were white hack type guys. Still though... I would be paranoid as all get out after the fact.

 

 

 

That's kind of funny that the guy fell for an easy phishing email, just double-checking that link would prevent that one so easily. Awareness is definitely key.

 

I was absolutely surprised he clicked that link, even when he knew that he was currently being hacked.

 

remember, the domain was only one letter off. That being said, I am surprised myself too.

 

True, and it was a really really good looking phishing scam. It looked legit, you would still think he would be way more cautious though since he had asked them to do it.

 

 

 

That's kind of funny that the guy fell for an easy phishing email, just double-checking that link would prevent that one so easily. Awareness is definitely key.

 

I was absolutely surprised he clicked that link, even when he knew that he was currently being hacked.

 

remember, the domain was only one letter off. That being said, I am surprised myself too.

 

That is why, even with an email that I know is legit, I hover over links and read the real link in the pop up. If they don't match I don't click. I also advise, and practice, that if you get an email from a bank, utility company, hosting company, etc. especially those talking about security changes, don't click on the links in the email. Instead, use a browser and type in the known, correct address to their homepage or do a search for them and go that way. If the email was legit it is usually easy to find a link on their homepages to do what the email advises.

...began by compiling a dossier on me, using publicly available information like my email address, my employer, and my social media accounts....took a survey of my social media activities. In total, their dossier on me added up to 13 pages.

This is the first place I go when investigating someone one of the reasons I do not use any social media.

 

...began by compiling a dossier on me, using publicly available information like my email address, my employer, and my social media accounts....took a survey of my social media activities. In total, their dossier on me added up to 13 pages.

This is the first place I go when investigating someone one of the reasons I do not use any social media.

 

Spot on quiteman. It was definitely a lot easier for these hackers because of him being a journalist and having high profile social media accounts. I personally have a facebook and an instragram. But the e-mail linked to those you won't see showing up on any of my important stuff that is for sure (bank account, etc etc). That is the key as well, if you are going to have those type of social media accounts, use throw away e-mails, and don't post any PII type of stuff.