[apozem]

I read the autobiography of hacker Kevin Mitnick and the thing that struck me the most was how his "hacking" consisted of manipulating people. I can recall one case in the book where he compromised a system on a purely technical level. Almost every other hack was based on convincing people to tell him things they should not.

Why break into a system when you can ask someone to unlock it for you?

[sliverstorm]

It definitely was a little disillusioning when I learned that many famous hackers were not technical wizards (like bunnie) but in fact basically con artists.

[flashman]

Take a broader view of hacking. A system is not just its code, it's the people that run it, too. If you want to break into a system, they are frequently the best point of entry.

[mikeyouse]

To paraphrase from the first season of Mr. Robot as they're looking over surveillance pictures of a secure data center compound with high walls, biometrics, security cameras, and 4 armed security guards;

"How do you break into a place with no weak points?"

"I see four weak points right there."

[ukyrgf]

"I see about six walking around."