That one is safe, I promise. Maybe not work-safe, but nothing you wouldn't open in front of friends. I used to utilize it when demonstrating the (in)effectiveness of certain IT security tools.
Uselessness, indeed. Which security tools? And what have you done to my home computer now?!
I'm a white hat, grey at my worst.
This was a content filtering product that used an algorithm which I showed to be ineffective due it it's failure to filter on actual content rather than keywords and blacklists. At the time I was selling a competitive product that was much more effective.
Remember kids, there is no such thing as secure, only secure enough.
C Co 3/75 88-90 (Just Cause)
124 MI(LRSD) 90-91 (Desert Storm)
Repeal the 16th, enforce the 10th.
ΜΩΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
"I come in peace. I didn't bring artillery. But I'm pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I'll kill you all." Gen. James Mattis
C Co 3/75 88-90 (Just Cause)
124 MI(LRSD) 90-91 (Desert Storm)
Repeal the 16th, enforce the 10th.
ΜΩΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
"I come in peace. I didn't bring artillery. But I'm pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I'll kill you all." Gen. James Mattis
Yup I still think a man in those "BC" birth control glasses is sexy, that is all.
Back to your regularly scheduled Random thought of the moment
Jenny
"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” Galileo Galilei
"If our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right” Marcus Tullius Cicero
A white hat? Intriguing. Not a lot of talented white hats running around.
Ok so this blonde here needed interpretation I had to have Dr D explain some of this all to me
White Hats= "ethical hackers" = computer security experts specializing in penetration testing also known as tiger teams or red teams. White hats are part of the "aggressor" teams aka "red" teams whereas defender teams are called "blue" teams.
Black hats = "unethical hackers??" using tactics such as spamdexing, attempt to redirect search results to particular target pages in a fashion that is against the search engines' terms of service.
White hats tend to produce results that last a long time, whereas black hats anticipate that their sites may eventually be banned either temporarily or permanently once the search engines discover what they are doing.
So in summary, 'Black hats' can be compared to the "bad boys" my grandmother and mother tried to warn me to stay away from growing up.
Jenny
"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” Galileo Galilei
"If our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right” Marcus Tullius Cicero
White hats are the sheep dogs guarding the herd, black hats are the wolves. Sometimes, though, the wolves are actually dark knights. A dark knight is a wolf that hunts wolves (and ultimately helps the white hat). So, you have to look carefully.
DrD wrote:White hats are the sheep dogs guarding the herd, black hats are the wolves. Sometimes, though, the wolves are actually dark knights. A dark knight is a wolf that hunts wolves (and ultimately helps the white hat). So, you have to look carefully.
Does this help?
Dr D, yes thank you your clarification did it for me! Now I know enough to be dangerous
Jenny
"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” Galileo Galilei
"If our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right” Marcus Tullius Cicero
HTAM: There is a hidden link in there. You can find it, I have confidence.
JL & HTAM:
White, Grey & Black Hat are used to define the type of hacker/cracker, as well as the methodologies used.
My definitions:
White Hat -
Type:Only hacks for "good". Usually pen-testing and audits type of stuff.
Methodology:All above the board. All parties involved are aware that testing is going on, and defenses are usually heightened as such. I usually avoided this methodology as it wasn't anywhere near realistic.
Grey Hat -
Type:Hacks for good, but may dabble in darker areas.
Methodology:Usually involves pen-testing with only limited awareness on the defensive side. Managerial & above. A better scenario, although I have found that the managerial types tend to tip their hands and it slips towards white hat.
Black Hat -
Type:Constantly pushing boundaries, usually without consent from the target. Can be for nefarious or good reasons.
Methodology:Completely under the radar, usually with some CIO/CTO knowledge. When doing these I used to make sure I had a letter of consent from the executive sponsor, just in case someone in the trenches decided to call the po-po.
So for type, I was White & occasionally Grey. I used to get bored and scan my broadband subnet for PCs that weren't secured. I would then leave a note on the user's desktop "suggesting" they secure their system, with a list of ways to do so.
Methodology wise it was all three. Black Hat was way more fun, but way more difficult.
I stopped doing security work after about 2 years of wasting my breath. The vast majority of companies out there pay lip service and that's it. The companies that do care already have plenty of expertise in-house.
C Co 3/75 88-90 (Just Cause)
124 MI(LRSD) 90-91 (Desert Storm)
Repeal the 16th, enforce the 10th.
ΜΩΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
"I come in peace. I didn't bring artillery. But I'm pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I'll kill you all." Gen. James Mattis
RangerX wrote:
I stopped doing security work after about 2 years of wasting my breath. The vast majority of companies out there pay lip service and that's it. The companies that do care already have plenty of expertise in-house.
Yep... I agree. The companies that keep good in-house talent are few and far between...
C Co 3/75 88-90 (Just Cause)
124 MI(LRSD) 90-91 (Desert Storm)
Repeal the 16th, enforce the 10th.
ΜΩΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
"I come in peace. I didn't bring artillery. But I'm pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I'll kill you all." Gen. James Mattis
