I'm a Convicted Hacker and Ex Prisoner - Ask Me Anything

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Secondly, how has being a hacker had an effect on how you feel about internet security and the problems of people's social networks/personal things online/etcetera being monitored?

I study Internet Computing and I'd quite honestly tell you not to worry. If these companies want information on you then they can get it regardless of whether you post it online. They're not interested in things such as who you went out with on Friday but they're interested in information that supports their data mining aims. If they truly want it they will find a way.

Reply 61

radiopred

1. Have you seen the documentary film: We Are Legion

2. If you haven't will you at least watch the trailer

3. Will you do an Ama on Reddit?

Reply 62

vickyhunt

Were you scared when the police came in to arrest you?

Reply 63

cascadingstylez

Original post by Raylan Givens

ToR still leaves a trace. The only true way of concealing your identity online is multiple attacks down numerous paths. Which path are you on? Which one is easiest to trace? Takes a sophisticated system to pull off as well and a good brain to not get caught.

I'm guessing the OP knows all about MiTM attacks, XSRF attacks, SQL injections and XSS attacks then having worked in the web development area.

What protocols did you take advantage of to execute your attack?

Yes ToR can leave a trace. That's why I mentioned about using offshore servers set up as VPNs. You'd be shockingly surprised at how many hackers use ToR alone and are never caught.

In terms of the attack on BPAS that was done using SQL Injection and some brute force hash cracking to crack the MD5 hashes in the database. Pretty simple stuff.

That's all I can discuss as I was never caught for anything else :wink:

Reply 64

cascadingstylez

Original post by Juichiro

1. Prove it
2. Prove it
3. Prove it
4. Prove it

http://facebook.com/whitehat/thanks

Go to that page, press CTRL + F, type James Jeffery.

I won't prove anything else to you.

Reply 65

Elf.

Original post by Raylan Givens

Scary but interesting! :tongue:

Reply 66

Lelcats

Original post by cascadingstylez

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/abortion-site-hacker-james-jeffery-jailed-7643734.html

Edit: I'm not proud of what I done. I'm honest though.

Mate if that's really you then you're an idiot. You're as bad as Coldblood, you aren't meant to have a pseudonym - it defeats the purpose of anonymity.

Reply 67

cascadingstylez

Original post by Elf.

Secondly, how has being a hacker had an effect on how you feel about internet security and the problems of people's social networks/personal things online/etcetera being monitored?

Internet security has always been a big problem, and always will be. There are too many insecure technologies in use that will always leave the Internet open to attack.

Monitoring is and always has been a problem too. With the recent news on NSA people are becoming aware of it now. The Government are harvesting data on a grand scale. This is called "Big Data". And Data Scientists are now being used to analyse this Big Data. The Government are now able to do more with data and reveal more about us. What they do with it is beyond the scope of this discussion, but data is dangerous.

I refuse to use a social network.

It's when this data is stolen that things get interesting.

Reply 68

StarvingAutist

Original post by cascadingstylez

I like Perl. I've been programming since I was about 16 so you could say it's took me 13 years to know what I know. I have Aspergers, and love computers, and reading computer books. It pretty much consumes my life, so I'm probably an exception.

As for the spoiler question ... you'd be surprised but ALOT are. There's to many poor developers out there that leave themselves open to these attacks.

Yes!

finally, someone who likes Perl. I've been learning it recently. For fun, I created a kind of login program, most of it works but the sub for reading the password file doesn't work.
Also, how would I make it more secure? http://pastebin.com/KrQQ1vvN

Wow, really? It's quite surprising what even a quick google will bring up. How can people be so lazy?

Reply 69

Elf.

Original post by cascadingstylez

It sounds like science fiction. How about things like Snapchat?

Reply 70

username1343231

Original post by Elf.

It sounds like science fiction. How about things like Snapchat?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Snapchat has been hacked???

Reply 71

cascadingstylez

Original post by veebakkas

I want to be you! ]
(Just without the prison bit)
How did you get into Software developing, what is required to do so?
What do you need to know to be a software developer (a successful one?)

I have Aspergers, it was only diagnosed recently. But that explains a lot. I've always had an unhealthy obsession with computers. On my 16th birthday I spent my £150 birthday money on 3 Visual Basic books. It progressed from there. I dropped out of school at 15 because I enjoyed sitting in front of the computer and learning more about the computer than I did to attend school.

There's a lot of things a successful software developer should know. I don't know if I qualify as a successful developer, most of the software I develop is in the Internet Marketing, and Data Analysis field.

But, successful developers NEED to understand Object Orientated Programming. They need to understand Test Driven Development and how to Unit Test. They need to understand revision control, and how to work in a collaborative environment. Git is a popular choice. To many to mention.

I also think its important to focus on one language, and learn that inside out. Know how it works at its core, and not just on the surface. How it uses memory, how garbage collection works etc. For example, in .NET I think its paramount to understand how the CLR works.

Reply 72

cascadingstylez

Original post by precious maro

what is the most time you've heard of a hacker being sentenced to?

In the UK I had the highest sentence handed to a hacker. I'm not sure about globally.

Reply 73

honeywhite

Original post by cascadingstylez

This seems like a cool thing to do that a lot of people are doing. I get asked questions constantly about the topic title, so to heck with it. Here goes.

Some background info on me:

I'm 29 years old.
I'm a software developer.
I work with Facebook as an Ethical Hacker.
I spent 12 months in prison.
Studied 2 years at uni (Software Engineering).

Ask me anything at all. I'll answer with complete honesty.

Alright, fine.

Linux or BSD?
Vi or EMACS?
C or Fortran?

Reply 74

cascadingstylez

Original post by Elf.

Wow. I can't believe you think there's nothing interesting to write! What a life story so far.
What made you feel that way to begin with?
Sorry if this is too personal. x

What made me feel like I have nothing interesting to write? I have no self confidence at all lol. Anxiety and depression did that to me :frown:

Reply 75

cascadingstylez

Original post by honeywhite

Alright, fine.

Linux or BSD?
Vi or EMACS?
C or Fortran?

1. I'm a Mac and FreeBSD user, so BSD all the way.
2. The last time I used Vi was a while ago, never used EMACS. I miss Vi :frown:

3. C, never used Fortran

Reply 76

cascadingstylez

Original post by radiopred

1. Have you seen the documentary film: We Are Legion

2. If you haven't will you at least watch the trailer

3. Will you do an Ama on Reddit?

Not seen it yet. Will make a note to watch it :wink:

Reply 77

qr95

Your not James Jeffery unless you can prove it. Oh yeah just to add im bill gates.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 78

Mrkingpenguin

Original post by cascadingstylez

In the UK I had the highest sentence handed to a hacker. I'm not sure about globally.

Opinion on bitcoin?

Opinion on the SEA 16 and their rape of Microsoft recently (twice..lol)?

Opinion on how people are constantly misusing the word 'hack' to apply to ddossers, and social engineers (who exploit yahoo emails etc)

Do you know who the DerpTrolling group are? (the guys who brought down a load of servers and supposedly paid by big companies)

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 79

cascadingstylez

Original post by vickyhunt

Were you scared when the police came in to arrest you?

Not really scared no. I was surprised.

I was in bed with the girlfriend watching Family Guy at around 1am. I was running some attacks against a site (can't mention it but police already know about it so it's fine to say it). I heard a lot of car doors closing outside, and I thought it was odd since it's 12, and I doubt anyone has a party on a weekday.

Then all of a sudden there was a crash at the door. I jumped out of bed and darted downstairs to see what the hell it was. I thought someone was attempting to rob my house because I had a lot of expensive music production equipment at my house.

Then I heard them shout "Police move from the door". I shout "Hold up I'll open it don't break the fu**ing door". They shout "Open NOW!". So I did. They pushed it open and I flew backwards and an two officers pointed a taser at me whilst the rest rushed into all the rooms of the house.

I was then handcuffed and sat down on my sofa. I was naked apart from my boxers.

I could continue but I'd have to write a book for that :frown:

I got my girlfriend to light me a smoke and hold it in my mouth because I was handcuffed. I knew I was going to a police cell so I got her to pour me a coke but mix in a lot of vodka, so she did.

After 2 hours in the house with them I was taken to the police station.

The laptop I used to hack with I set it up so it had no HDD, and no battery. I used a Live CD. In the event that police would come I could pull the power plug. But I was so consumed with the idea my house was being robbed I forgot to pull the power plug! And they caught what I was doing on that computer that night. CPS didn't charge me for those, I guess they wanted to get me on the BPAS thing.