Rappelling Off a Roof
redteams.net
redteams.net
He didn't check out. He appears to be lying about his military background in Israel and has little in terms of information security skills. No certifications. Nobody in the field knows him. He refuses to provide any proof of his claims. His blog posts are vague ramblings without real substance.
He's what's known as a "charlatan" in attrition.org lingo. I'm not sure why he hasn't been called out by Attrition yet, but he's probably flying below their radar.
You can easily find his real name and do some Google and Archive.org searching and see that none of his story or timelines check out. He did work in an entry-level security position for a Waltham, MA company for a short time.
The best I can tell is that he's an EDC gear junkie with dreams of being a spy.
PS: He is not affiliated with the fine people at GORUCK.
When rappelling with an ATC you lock the rope off, and control your speed, by pulling the free end of the rope downward. Feeding your slack out of a backpack you're wearing would force your hand upward as the slack came out and the rope started to bind on that tiny hydration hose hole. If you're lucky the whole system would lock up; if you're not lucky you'd lose control of the rappel and fall.
For future reference the way to rappel with a rope is to stack it into the pack, open the pack up nice and wide so the rope will feed freely, then clip the pack to your harness with a sling so it hangs below you. Or use a rope bucket, which is expressly designed for this purpose.
I've done quite a few rapells and sometimes keep my rope in my closed rope bag on my back (with compression cords in place) if there is a large risk of the rope getting entangled with the environment, I'm on a bridge over a road or I'm on a cliff above salt water.
I use a french prusik on the rope below the ATC and pull the rope out of the bag at the same time as I pull down the prusik. Often the rope gets slightly stuck, a harder pull on the rope has freed it for me every time and I never take care when putting the rope in the bag so I would think a proper packing of the rope would decrease that risk a lot. Should the rope get really stuck I would simply take off the bag and open it up while hanging in the harness. Not a big deal at all.
Problem #4: Security has inadequate visitor monitoring procedures, thus permitting a visitor who required escort to hide inside the building. No, I am not confusing this with #3; his escorts not bringing him to the front desk or whomever is (or should be) logging visitor arrivals to log his departure.
Realistically, what sort of security guard would actually stop him when they found the climbing gear? Unless they receive some special training, they'd be looking for weapons. The climbing gear would probably raise their eyebrows, but could easily be explained away ("I'm going to my climbing gym later this evening").
Relying on security guards to consider the possibility that their guest might be planning on repelling from the roof down into a secured floor doesn't seem practical.
That's practical for some installations, but not many.
That said, these days with phones and laptops being nearly attached to the wrists of folks it would be a very hard policy to enforce. Google's solution was conference rooms that were outside the security perimeter and had bathrooms outside the security perimeter as well. That worked pretty well and would have defeated this particular attack.
Larger defense contractor facilities have those types of conference rooms as well.
You'd also be surprised how easily security can be fobbed off by telling them something they've heard a few dozen times before.
You can go to any uniform supply store and pick up some coveralls for a fake company. You would be able to walk into any commercial building with any equipment you want, and excuse it all off with knowing who the property management company is. If anyone asks too many questions you just say "I don't know, I just go where I'm told" and if you're getting nowhere you can get out of dodge by saying "Let me just call the office, make sure they didn't give me the wrong address."
Your #4 assumes he'd be logged coming and going, which in my experience isn't true for construction workers. Also hiding inside the building isn't necessary. He knew his methodology for getting into the place, which meant accessing the roof. Security wouldn't check the roof once the electrical contact shows the door or hatch is closed.
The weakest link in security is human nature. Build me the most complicated lock in the world, and it's only valuable if people remember to lock it and you can't get them to unlock it for you.
"The sign was so authentic that Caltrans officials let it remain in place for eight years, four months and 15 days, until its removal last month under a standard scheduled replacement. "
No, in general I'm not. At a place where the mere location of the main server room is confidential information, though, I would be very surprised.
> Your #4 assumes he'd be logged coming and going, which in my experience isn't true for construction workers.
It was true of every defense contractor facility I have ever been to.
> Also hiding inside the building isn't necessary. He knew his methodology for getting into the place, which meant accessing the roof. Security wouldn't check the roof once the electrical contact shows the door or hatch is closed.
Well, I was counting on the roof as inside the building; I wasn't clear on that. Still, security should have known the door had been opened at some point, and done due diligence with facilities to find out if there was a reason
> The weakest link in security is human nature. Build me the most complicated lock in the world, and it's only valuable if people remember to lock it and you can't get them to unlock it for you.
Absolutely correct, which is why training and awareness are the most important features of an effective physical security plan.[1]
Basically, I keyed off the author's statement that this client has security and started thinking, WWDSSD[2]? The items I mentioned in my original post are items I would flag if I were inspecting a facility, in addition to what the author mentioned.
[1] Shit, I'm starting to sound like a fucking DSS training pamphlet.
[2] What Would the Defense Security Service Do
What he said was scariest is that anyone with access to a commercial printer and lamination machine could easily reproduce them too.
So many people come and go from your average facility. I mean you can get past most gates just by landing a job at the right landscaping company if security is that strict.
It also sounds like the target was in a shared office building, so they likely had minimal influence over security procedures.
Obviously, it's just an anecdote, but I would be surprised if similar requirements weren't standard for the defense industry.
The two of them grabbed the bundle of pipes, and carried it to the front door, then put it right outside of the front entrance to the main building and pointed it at the gate, which was about 40 meters away. They then flipped it over at the far point, and counted "one!". Then again: "two!". And so on. This way they got to the gate, and then simply continued across the street, continuing to count. According to the different versions of the story (it's been told more than once), they either acknowledged the guards, or pretended to be super concerned with the counting. In either case, the piping went into the walls of my dad's friend's apartment shortly after and been there ever since.
P.S.: Apparently, one of the people in their group also managed to sneak out a power drill (not as common back then), by tying it between his legs in a pair of large pants.
Now I wonder if I just read a cool blog post with product placement.
Rule 57:The GORUCK Rule - Under promise and over deliver.
Rule 69 also references the GoRuck founder
So they either really like the bag, or they're in some way advertising for it.
the GR1 protected the laptop really well, by the time I was inside the 5th floor it was pouring outside and the laptop and gear remained dry.
What does that have to do with anything? Don't know, don't care. Just sad that this is the top post right now, complete with supporting commenters/marketers.
Judging from the "professional" section of the Petzl website, being a steeplejack, rescue crew or arborist (tree surgeon?) is the best way to get to use this equipment and get paid for it.
Also a surprisingly good reading list:
If you're describing your dream-job as 'repelling off of buildings' why would you mention your pen-testing experience?
If you're interested in a job working on-rope, and, uh, learning the ropes, I suggest you take a look at rope access. It's a small niche industry, but pay is very good, technicians are treated well, and many companies offer an "alternative" work schedule/lifestyle where weeks of travel work are interspersed with weeks of total off-time - and good technicians can sometimes choose how much they want to work (or not work).
If anyone's interested, run a Google search for SPRAT and IRATA (those are our professional certifying bodies), and look on those sites for companies in your country. You'll have to take a week-long course (it's hard) and pass an exam before you're allowed on a job site, but if you have the stuff you'll pass, and most companies are hiring.
But really, my friends and I used to do a lot of building climbing for kicks when I was younger (probably four to five stories usually) and there was a long period where that kind of job would have been way better while I learned to code than the random crap jobs I ended up doing.
Looks really interesting though. Probably going to do some research into this.
Is the course integral to the job or is it the kind of thing where you pay for the course/licensing/certification then go look for a job? Seems like it might be interesting to look into just for the certification.
Of course... I have no idea what all this is like, so I might research for five seconds and realize that's lal stupid to ask
I'm interested in taking the course without getting a job doing it, not the other way around. I was wondering how much it was to take it on my own dime.
I should have said something like "I'm interested in the course; can you take it and not get a job using it, or do you have to be on a job-track through a company to even take the course?"
I used to be a pretty avid rock climber and I'd be really interested in learning the techniques and types of equipment they use.
Reading my post, the climbing buildings part probably didn't reduce the perception that I was trying to do something risky, either
I don't know that I'd see it as a waste of money. I just like using my vacation time and money to experience something completely different and new, while learning new skills. Even if I'm not out doing something more interesting and engaged, I'd just end up hiking around finding a place to hang a hammock and read a book on coding or a technical paper.
My wife says my vacations aren't vacations because I never look like I'm relaxing in the classic sense. I'm not kicking back on a beach with a pulpy novel, usually (not that there's anything wrong with that). For me, a vacation is a time to psychologically recharge, and I get that by engaging myself, but on my own terms. Along with that, depending on how long the certification lasts, it's not that bad to have a backup skill/cert in the wings.
I've also found that it's really valuable to get insight into what other people do to make the world go round. Gives me a better respect and understanding of things in general.
Buy a safe, try to unlock it without the key, buy a better safe, try to get in.
If you're especially lazy, put an ad on craigslist looking to hire janitors, take the resumes, put your name on it, and apply for real janitorial jobs.
I believe this is his twitter account: https://twitter.com/SgtHowardPayne
[1]: http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/search/solr?all=R...
To add to your comment, he only descended two floors, 7th to 5th, so wouldn't need nearly as much rope.
I prefer that to the alternative - that someone is purring while looking at OCD pocket dumps of watches, wallets, pocket knives, and patches.
What's the secret? Simple construction, no bells and whistles and unnecessary crap like water"proof"ing. Tougher, cheaper, lighter. Not made in China by a giant corporation. The ultimate hacker pack!
created: 1339 days ago