Penetration Testing mailing list archives
Re: proposed pen-test
From: Steve Friedl <steve () unixwiz net>
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 22:28:57 -0800
On Mon, Mar 08, 2010 at 12:43:20PM -0800, John Kinsella wrote:
I'll guarantee that real attackers won't worry about the legalities of impersonation or using the postal service for fraud...who would sue in the pentest example?
Nobody, because a pen-test is not *actual* fraud, and there is no actual damage. There are all kinds of Postal Service rules, such as it being illegal to open somebody else's mail, but when you dig in, you find that opening the mail of a previous resident for the purposes of tracking them down or informing the sender, is NOT illegal. Fraud requires an actual intend to defraud; saying "gotcha" is not the same as defrauding. This may draw some attention, but if you have your approvals in order and you are scrupulous with not abusing any actual personal data you come across, you'll be fine. ... and I suspect you'll get plenty of customers - please do let us know if you try this. Steve --- Stephen J Friedl | Security Consultant | UNIX Wizard | 714 694-0494 steve () unixwiz net | Orange County, CA | Microsoft MVP | unixwiz.net
I doubt the social engineering network wants to draw attention to the topic, and I'd hope they would appreciate using the results to educate your users...I also suspect it's too small of a fish to fry to the USPS... John On Mar 7, 2010, at 11:03 AM, John Grimes wrote:Hi-- A consultant firm has recommended to my university's IT department that we run the following pen-test: We send, through regular mail, a letter to members of the staff and faculty, that appears to come from a well-known social networking site, that is, it uses a facsimile of the actual letterhead and envelope of the site, including the correct return address. In this letter, we invite the recipient to beta-test a new version of the social networking site by using the program on the enclosed usb stick. We offer a gift card to a major online retailer as further inducement. If any staff member plugs in the usb stick, they will be told in a pop-up window that they have been duped, and the fact will be logged to a server at the university. It seems to us that there are two potential legal problems here: impersonating the social networking site, and using the US postal service for a fraudulent, if well-intentioned, purpose. Can anyone here comment on this? Beyond the legalities, does this seem like an effective and worthwhile test? Thanks for any insight.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ This list is sponsored by: Information Assurance Certification Review Board Prove to peers and potential employers without a doubt that you can actually do a proper penetration test. IACRB CPT and CEPT certs require a full practical examination in order to become certified. http://www.iacertification.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current thread:
- proposed pen-test John Grimes (Mar 08)
- Re: proposed pen-test Tracy Reed (Mar 08)
- RE: proposed pen-test Password Crackers, Inc. (Mar 08)
- Re: proposed pen-test John Kinsella (Mar 08)
- Re: proposed pen-test Steve Friedl (Mar 11)
- Re: proposed pen-test Matt Gardenghi (Mar 11)
- Re: proposed pen-test Steve Friedl (Mar 11)
- Re: proposed pen-test Terry Cutler (Mar 08)
- Re: proposed pen-test Shohn Trojacek (Mar 08)
- RE: proposed pen-test Gorgon Beast (Mar 11)
- Re: proposed pen-test Eric Milam (Mar 11)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: proposed pen-test krymson (Mar 08)