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Security Consultant Finds Flaws – Without Permission
Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
2006-09-28
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
A self-declared security consultant recently went to unusual (and perhaps illegal) lengths to gain a new customer. Gerasimos Macridis, a New Zealander, examined the security measures of the nation's Reserve Bank - without its permission - and then asked for payment when he reported his findings.
The bank did not pay Macridis. Instead, it contacted the police, "who raided Macridis's house . . . and seized his computer," according to an article in The Register. "Questioned by police, he admitted he had no authorisation to conduct his tests but said he didn't realise he'd done anything wrong, a belief that investigators were quick to dispel."
"Appearing before Judge Ian Mill, Macridis pleaded guilty to intentionally accessing the Reserve Bank's telephone system without authorization," the article continued. At this point, the case seemed fairly cut-and-dry, although also somewhat amusing. Macridis had, after all, "racked up a number of fraud convictions making it appear to investigators that he might have been using his technical knowledge to extort money from the bank and Telecom New Zealand."
The hacker/security consultant is apparently quite the smooth talker, though. Macridis "persuaded the judge he turned over a new leaf . . . . He did not use the security shortcomings he discovered for personal gain or pass on the information to other, potentially less scrupulous, individuals."
"Judge Mill accepted these arguments and discharged Macridis without conviction despite his earlier guilty plea," The Register's John Leyden reported. "‘In my view his intentions were honourable,'" the judge said, according to Leyden. The ruling seems to have ruffled a few feathers.
"Kevin" responded to an article on the same subject posted at Techdirt. "To use an (albeit poor) analogy, if I am walking along the sidewalk and step on your lawn, it shouldn't be a big deal. Unless," he wrote, "I come up and start messing up your property, or unlocking your fence and telling you I found a hole in your security system and demand to be paid for my (unsolicited) work."
Tag: Macridis
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About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for SecurityProNews. InternetFinancialNews, SearchNewz, and WebProNews.
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