Wilson Rothman, further proof of three things:
1) Journalist are struggling to find "good" content to write about
2) Mainstream technology journalist rarely know what the hell they are writing about
3) a Communications degree isnt worth shit
I'll try to do the positive side first. Ok you're communicating something interesting to the masses..good job you've succeeded.
Ok, enough of that...
Too bad this story was already over a week old in the mainstream when you found it and decided to rehash it, put your name on it and.
He, Ryan, did not prove or disprove the "fragility" in social networking security (Side note: when you use phrasing like "social networking security", try to clarify what you mean exactly. That vague statement would be comparative to me saying "I own a car" - that's nice, what kind of car is it, does it have wheels?). All he proved is that social engineering is still viable, it is an old concept that for whatever reason the masses still do not grasp or recognize even though security professionals try to make the angle well know in security awareness training. My suggestion to Rothman or anyone else who has never heard of social engineering or still doesn't know what it is..google..is your friend..or hell..wiki for social engineering..it is not a super secret.
Some security guy played a common ruse that has been used numerous times before, hell I've done..any security professional who has ever engaged in a posture assessment or penetration test has used the same angle in varying degree. Nothing new to see here..these are not the droids you are looking for...
I`m curious about one statement though, which he makes appear as a question "So, she started hacking at age 14". Did he seriously find this odd? Most of the people I know that have been doing this for life started "tinkering" well before age 14. I was 11 when I "hacked" my first network. My one son is 7; he has already figured out how to do some really creative security bypassing so he can play on blockland without dad knowing.
blah yea..I`ve already spent way too much time than deserved on this rant
//rant off
