In this episode we follow up with Gabby and Justin from Episode 59 - two seasoned penetration testers who tell us a story about the time when they tried to break into a courthouse but it went all wrong, and what happened in the aftermath.
Sponsors
This show is brought to you by Doppel. Doppel stops AI attacks with digital risk protection, human risk management, and email security on a unified social engineering defense platform. doppel.com
This show is brought to you by Sinch. Sinch is the cloud communications platform businesses build on to send SMS, make calls, and verify identity at scale — including the one-time codes and two-factor prompts that stand between an account and whoever’s trying to get into it. Learn more at https://s.sinch.com/4xc8dnz
Support for this show comes from ThreatLocker. ThreatLocker is a Zero Trust Platform that gives organizations control over what can run and what users and devices can access. It combines prevention with real time detection and automated response, helping security teams stop unauthorized activity and quickly contain compromised machines. Learn how ThreatLocker can strengthen your defenses at threatlocker.com/Darknet.
Sources
Original Episode:
- https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/11/how-a-turf-war-and-a-botched-contract-landed-2-pentesters-in-iowa-jail/
- https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/01/iowa-prosecutors-drop-charges-against-men-hired-to-test-their-security/
- https://www.coalfire.com/News-and-Events/Press-Releases/Coalfire-CEO-Tom-McAndrew-statement
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2019/09/11/men-arrested-burglary-dallas-county-iowa-courthouse-hired-judicial-branch-test-security-ia-crime/2292295001/
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2019/09/13/men-arrested-burglary-polk-dallas-county-iowa-courthouse-hired-judicial-branch-test-security-crime/2312340001/
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2019/09/18/iowa-courts-dallas-county-courthouse-coalfire-contract-judicial-branch-test-security-ia-crime-arrest/2356047001/
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2019/09/19/iowa-state-senator-calls-oversight-committee-investigate-courthouse-break-ins-crime-polk-dallas/2374576001/
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2019/10/10/iowa-supreme-court-justice-cady-policies-courthouse-break-ins-senate-polk-dallas-burglary-ia-cyber/3930656002/
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2019/10/28/iowa-courthouse-break-ins-men-security-firm-plead-not-guilty-trespassing/2488314001/
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2019/10/30/courthouse-break-in-ceo-cyber-security-coalfire-charges-dropped/4097354002/
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2020/01/30/courthouse-break-ins-charges-dropped-against-coalfire-employees/4611574002/
- https://www.iowacourts.gov/collections/445/files/919/embedDocument/
- https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6420368-Approved-attacks.html#document/p1
Updated Episode:
- https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/01/county-pays-600000-to-pentesters-it-arrested-for-assessing-courthouse-security/
- https://awarenesscon.com/
Attribution
Darknet Diaries is created by Jack Rhysider.
Episode artwork by odibagas.
Mixing by Proximity Sound.
Theme song created by Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme song available for listen and download at bandcamp. Or listen to it on Spotify.
Transcript
JACK: I just came back from DEFCON, and it was so wonderful meeting so many of the listeners there. Many of you asked how my dad is doing, and I’ll tell you; he’s struggling with the modern world. Let me show you what I mean. So like, I call my dad a few times a week just to check in on him, but he only calls me when he’s got computer problems.