Jayson E. Street is a guy with glasses and a warm smile. Of course, it does not look at all like the hacker stereotype that often appears in movies (ie somewhat pale, and anti-social). But Jayson is a hacker and even a human hacker…
Street the master of cheating: It's made of social engineer, and specializes in safety awareness and breaches that require physical presence. He is honest, friendly, always smiling, and in addition to working in this field, he is also an InfoSec Ranger at Pwnie Express, known for his books and lectures around the world.
Information security professionals generally agree that people are the weakest link in security. Workers must have access to do their job, and so attackers are increasingly targeting them instead of the network to penetrate the system.
A successful social engineer must have a broad set of skills. The most important thing seems to be to be able to understand the depth of human emotion. Reading people's faces, interpreting gestures, especially in a foreign country with an appreciably different culture, is a very difficult task that requires unlimited practice and skills.
Essentially, an experienced social engineer is the closest we have to the expression "mind reader." From the expression of a person and the situation he faces he can create a scenario that gives him the advantage.
As Ernest Hemingway once said: "When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen. " Well, that's what social engineers do.
Information is the most valuable asset in the world today, and Jayson knows how to get it. During an interview with HNS, he reported that he had broken networks in the US, Malaysia, Jordan, Germany, Jamaica, France and Lebanon.
His tools?
"I broke a bank in Beirut, Lebanon, wearing a DEF CON leather jacket. "I do not speak Arabic or French, and honestly, I do not bond well in this city," Jayson recalls.
Όπως μπορείτε να φανταστείτε, αυτό δεν τον σταμάτησε. Κατέληξε σε μια καρέκλα γραφείου ενός υπαλλήλου που του επέτρεψε να συνδέσει το Hak5 Rubber Ducky USB του στον computer του. Στο τέλος της “επίσκεψης” στην τράπεζα, είχε το διαχειριστικό ID του υπαλλήλου της τράπεζας χρήστη, τον κωδικό πρόσβασης τους και μια smart card.
"Armed with this information I can find my way to their internal LAN."
Naturally, the bank's managers were shocked by the loose security. They knew that if someone else had this type of access, the funds could be emptied.
"I'm not the best coder or exploit programmer. I am not and I will never be such a guy. But it does not have to be, if I have a screwdriver and I can get the hard drive from your server. I do not need to bypass the firewall if I can bypass the receptionist, ”he says.
Jayson continues:
"Last year I managed to bypass the entire infrastructure of a high-class hotel on the French Riviera, wearing Ninja Turtles pajamas and walking barefoot."
Confidence is the key. During this walk he fell on an unprotected entry to the workers area, and within 30 minutes he was at the corporate office.
In these facilities after office hours the security was non-existent: desks, unlocked computers, drawers open…
“I never had problem anywhere, even in government or financial institutions. In fact, a guard once helped me get the server out of the computer room and into my car,” he recalls happily.
Instead – social engineering
"I do not try to destroy companies. "I make commitments for social awareness - my job is to educate people so they can understand."
Jayson even seems to be really trying to get caught. In his last "attack" he made suspicious intentional moves to manifest himself. In vain…
"I recently broke into a very secure building in New York across from Ground Zero wearing a t-shirt that said 'Your company's computer guy.'
After the violation he went back to the building and explained to the people involved what had happened and why. It is the point of his work aimed at raising awareness of security issues.
"Despite the outcome of my attacks, I have never met an idiot user," he notes. "But I see uneducated users who do not have the proper training," he says, explaining that safety training should be an essential part of employee training.
His advice?
1. If you feel like something is wrong, listen to the voice that tells you to react.
2. Organizations should have certain people they can call when in doubt, or an email address through which help can reach. Every employee should know that if they see a suspicious face wandering around, or when he receives a suspicious e-mail, that he can alert someone, who will investigate what is going on. "Do not approach the person, do not open the attachment, notify security," he advises.
This advice may sound simple, but Jayson's adventures around the world prove that even the largest organizations in the world still have not implemented basic security measures and do not have trained employees.
Hacking; People remain the weakest link of security.
