Everything You Wanted to Know about
Social Engineering -- But Were Afraid to Ask...
Oh,
yes, manipulating reporters is a major tool of social engineers.
Check out the reporting at the Wired web site on their outing
of Se7en (Valor):
Wired.com [2.8.99]
…In the past two years, profiles in Forbes, the London Independent,
the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, Wired News, and many other publications
have portrayed Valor as an old-school renegade with a cause:
exposing the identities -- and trashing the hard drives -- of
those who traffic in sexual imagery of children.
The illegal techniques he used were those honed during 17 years
in the hacker underground, the publications reported.
In fact, the primary target of Valor's hacking has turned out
to be the news media.
Several of Valor's former colleagues have come forward to
brand him a technologically inept poseur …
"He never deleted a single kiddie porn server himself.
He's a compulsive liar, always looking for some new thing to
impress people with," said Brian Martin… who lived
and worked with Valor…
Pete Shipley, senior security architect for one of the Big
Six accounting firms, administers the dis.org domain where Valor
had an email account and a Web page.
"I've never seen him demonstrate any expertise in accessing
any system," he said. Shipley added that he had to cancel
Valor's account because it was hacked so many times.
NASA, Air Force, Navy, Army, and FBI personnel take his {Se7en's]
US$1,395 three-and-a half-day courses on "Maximum Internet
Security" and "Internet Predators"…
In an article published in Forbes Digital Tool in April…
Valor had successfully hacked 99 pedophile targets, Penenberg
reported…
Info-war specialist Winn Schwartau, who hosted the radio show
featuring Valor, also said he can't personally confirm any of
his hacks.
© © 1994-99 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,17789,00.html
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