Fired IT manager hacks into CEO's presentation, replaces it with porn

[n2doc]

by Graham Cluley on June 22, 2011 |

Imagine you're giving a presentation to the board of directors at your company. You have your PowerPoint slides all ready, you're projecting onto a 64 inch screen... what could possibly go wrong?

Well, what would you do if your carefully composed presentation was replaced on the big screen by images of a naked woman? My guess is that you wouldn't know where to put your laser pointer..

52-year-old Walter Powell used to be an IT manager at Baltimore Substance Abuse System Inc, until he was fired in 2009. Clearly someone who believed that revenge should be served red hot, Powell used his computer knowledge to hack into his former employer's systems from his home and install keylogging software to steal passwords.

On one occasion, Powell took remote control of his former CEO's PowerPoint presentation to the board of directors, and projected pornographic images on the 64 inch TV.

more
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/06/22/hacker-ceo-presentation-porn/

[liberal N proud]

1. The fool should have checked his presentation before showing it

That is fundamental.

:dunce:

[starroute]

13. If the guy "took remote control" of the presentation, that might not have worked

If the disruption took place live, as it was happening, no amount of checking beforehand would have helped.

[petronius]

33. It sounds like that's how it happened - not an edited PPT, but a complete

hijacking. What an asshole...

[xchrom]

2. Debbie does Power Point! Nt

[formercia]

6. ....or

Debbie does someone's Power Point.

[ImNotTed]

3. Baltimore Substance Abuse System Inc

Sounds like it might be doing some good. Unrecced.

[hobbit709]

9. Might be but all the stuff on their website uses every buzzword possible.

Having learned to read bureaucratese a long time ago, I've learned to read between the lines of official BS.
It's an inverse relationship between amount of buzzwords and actually doing something besides getting assorted grant money.

I watched a crisis counseling agency go downhill after the bureaucrats took over. When numbers became more important than actually helping the clients.

[theaocp]

15. Thanks for summarizing how I felt after just going to their website.

What a mess of gibberish. You can't tell what the hell they're actually doing, outside of the obvious "helping poor addicts in Baltimore."

[dixiegrrrrl]

31. "A" crisis counseling agency.....sheesh. I have watched dozens of them fail for the same reason

that you mention.
And what the IT guy did was mild to some of the thoughts that crossed my mind over the years as the "the bottom line" resulted in dangerous and deadly patient care.

[brooklynite]

4. So, not expecting a recommendation on his next job application...

[IndyPragmatist]

10. That was my thought as well...

In this job climate, I would not be burning any bridges.

[theaocp]

16. They fired him in 2009

and he's 52. Not saying anything, I'm just sayin'...

[IndyPragmatist]

20. Okay, a little different, but still

I personally wouldn't do anything like that because I want potential employers to contact my former boss. It's one thing to request a future employer to not contact your current employer (that is widely accepted as reasonable), but asking to not contact former employers is a huge red flag.

[NoGOPZone]

22. Certainly an idiotic move on his part and now he has a criminal record

which is going to be an even bigger problem in trying to find a job. However, whether or not to request a potential employer not contact a previous employer when you've been fired seems to be a Morton's fork to me, both give the same negative result.

[nichomachus]

11. If they had fired him, he probably wasn't getting one anyway

[FLPanhandle]

5. Funny to read, but the guy will never be hired in the industry again.

He's still this mad 2 years later, then I think he's got some anger issues. Although, it would have been funny to see the CIO's expression when the porn went up in front of the board.

[nichomachus]

12. Security companies are very keen to hire hackers

You want the guys wo know where the security flaws are in order to build defenses against them

[lumberjack_jeff]

18. This isn't a hack.

It's analagous to getting burglarized by the house-sitter.

He had an administrative password that wasn't changed when they fired him.

No one would pay very much money for a consultant to tell them "change your passwords".

[nichomachus]

21. Maybe they should

[Occulus]

24. "He had an administrative password that wasn't changed when they fired him."

If this was a security company, that right there is a great reason to pass them by.

[slampoet]

41. If this was ANY company. I wouldn't let a Cupcake Co. have my credit card info w/ a rookie mistake..

like that. I mean, come on.


If management screwed up that firing this bad, I'm sure the IT guy was unjustly fired as well.

When A workplace screws up something this bad you can be sure they have been fucking things up for a long time in a lot of areas.

[trumad]

38. It was certainly a hack

52-year-old Walter Powell used to be an IT manager at Baltimore Substance Abuse System Inc, until he was fired in 2009. Clearly someone who believed that revenge should be served red hot, Powell used his computer knowledge to hack into his former employer's systems from his home and install keylogging software to steal passwords.

[lumberjack_jeff]

39. It's not the kind of hack that shows any particular expertise.

"For only $500, I'll show you how to make your house less vulnerable to burglary."
"I can demand that you give me back my house key for free."

[NJCher]

14. revenge served cold

He's still this mad 2 years later, then I think he's got some anger issues.

Ehhh, not so sure about that. He's a brainy type and brainy types don't act in the heat of anger. In fact, they just might wait...two years!...to make sure their target is off guard.

I like this guy, I like what he did, and I don't necessarily agree he'll never work in the industry again.


Cher

[PhiBetaCretin1]

25. Not 2 years

Folks, he didn’t wait 2 years! Quite the contrary. Read the press release at the link: “Just days after being fired from his job at BSAS in Sept. 2009, Powell started hacking the …system.”

He also pled guilty, got a 2-year suspended sentenced + 2-3 wks. community service and other penalties. We don’t know whether his anger at the organization was justified or not, but what he did he had to know was criminal trespass and unauthorized use of “property.”

In the end, he really only hurt himself. Yes, clever and cunning – and surely he got a kick out of it himself -- and a lasting legacy at the organization. But except for egg on the face of BSAS’s computer security staff, and some laughs at the Board meeting, this was childish AND criminal (unfortunately).

Anger issues? Yeah.
But I agree: better than shooting up the place, like some ex-employees hell-bent on revenge do!

[mwooldri]

19. Yep, he'd be hired. As a white hat security hacker/cracker.

He may be found out, sent to jail for a bit, come out... but people who can pull off that kind of a stunt will get hired by someone.

[FLPanhandle]

26. It wasn't much of a hack

It's the vindictive behavior that will keep him from being hired.

How can you hire a guy you know will pull stunts like this if you ever have to fire him?

It wasn't just a hack, it was the revenge factor that will keep him out of the industry.

[octothorpe]

7. doh! He should have framed one of the other officers.... "LULZ, T3H C70 W45 H3R3"

[Selatius]

8. Brings new meaning to the words "Power Point" nt

[Javaman]

17. Certainly better than shooting up the place. nt

[seabeyond]

23. i think he probably proved the point it was wise to fire him. nt

[eilen]

27. I applaud his guerilla lulz attack.

At 52 he was fired? I don't blame him. They must have really screwed him over for him to plan this one. I wonder what other surprises they have to find.

[Odin2005]

28. LOL!

[alcibiades_mystery]

29. So uncreative

This is why he got fired: the dude lacks imagination.

So you hack into a CEO's presentation and you have perfect license to ambush him by transforming it. And what do you go with? Porn. Bleh. Not something funny or subversive or biting (well...depends what kind of porn, I guess), but porn.

Dimwitted and predictable.

[FLPanhandle]

30. I agree

Why not replace the CIO slides with an IT strategy based around old Commodore 64's? Or employee bicycle powered backup power supplies? The opportunities are all there and he went predictable.

[unblock]

32. selection fallacy.

i'm sure this happens more than we realize. most hackers probably do something more creative or at least specific to the job or people involved.

but THOSE stories don't get press covereage! it's the pr0n that gets media attention.

[slampoet]

42. +1

Also this is only getting story 2 years after it happened because it was prosecuted.

Pretty much only porn pranks and destruction make it to court.

[NJCher]

34. bet you couldn't do it

Cher

[alcibiades_mystery]

35. I'm fairly sure I couldn't figure out the technical side

That's what makes his lame insertion so sad. He figured out the technical side - no doubt an achievement that speaks to his technical skill - then followed that up with the most ho-hum move imaginable. If only he could have paired his technical acumen with the slightest bit of imaginative work, he'd probably still have a job. But you can tell from this move exactly what kind of worker he was: so enamored with his technical skill set that he was unable to exercise any vision whatsoever. It's actually kind of pathetic.

[NJCher]

43. OK, creative genius

Tell us what would be imaginative.

Keep in mind that whatever you put up there has to shock, horrify, and humiliate in .02 of a second.

You're getting your standards mixed up with his. His only objective was to humiliate and make a fool out of this person. He is not concerned with clever content. Doesn't have to be to accomplish what he wanted.


Cher

[mythology]

36. With the administrative password

doing this would be child's play. This is pathetic and juvenile and probably speaks to the reason he was fired in the first place.

[undeterred]

44. You're right.

It would have been funnier if he had subtly changed the text to say something slightly different than what the author intended but he couldn't quite figure out when and where the changes were made.

[slampoet]

37. If that company left a security hole open for TWO YEARS, I wouldn't trust them to kill flies.

[slampoet]

40. Oops. I see the security hole was not left open that long, but even if it was left open a single day

[Taverner]

45. HAHA!

Not saying it's right but....HAHAHAHAAHAHA

:rofl:

[Matariki]

46. Oh, that's a likely excuse. The 'fired' guy did it.

Everyone knows, you always blame the person most recently gone from the company. :eyes: