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'Robin Sage' Social Hoax Duped Military, Security Pros

Posted by timothy on from the keep-mum-about-this-job dept.

ancientribe writes "A social networking experiment of a phony female military security professional known as 'Robin Sage' (named after a US Army Special Forces training exercise) worked way too well, fooling even the most security-savvy professionals on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. It also led to the leakage of sensitive military information after an Army Ranger accepted 'Robin's' friend request on Facebook and his photos from Afghanistan exposed geolocation information accessible to 'Robin.' The researcher who conducted the experiment will show off his findings at the upcoming Black Hat USA conference in Las Vegas, where the real woman pictured in the profiles is scheduled to introduce him for his presentation."

11 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. Did he get to talk to a real girl? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Cool!

  2. Re:I'm pretty sure by twidarkling · · Score: 4, Funny

    Portage. It's not just for birchbark canoes.

    --
    Canada: The US's more awesome sibling.
  3. Re:the army is obselete by jfoobaz · · Score: 5, Funny

    The French naval blockade of the Chesapeake Bay and some bad weather up the York River didn't hurt either.

    Yeah, if it weren't for the French, Americans would be speaking English today.

  4. How to win the war.... by 3seas · · Score: 2, Funny

    Use the hormone appeal weapon of mass population. Works really well with isolated soldiers.

  5. Re:I'm pretty sure by oiron · · Score: 4, Funny

    They're compiling ships from source now?

    Fascinating!

  6. Re:the army is obselete by jfoobaz · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can't imagine why you would find humans from one longitude to be preferable to humans from another longitude.

    I think you have to allow him some latitude to form his own opinions.

  7. Re:Only link that matters by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Funny

    I actually find it rather odd that they choose that picture. I know pretty much instantly that if I get a friend request of a girl in a bikini - unless I know her instantly I know it's just spam and ignore it.

    Dude, TFS says he's a friggin' Army Ranger.

    With that much testosterone, those guys aren't going to immediately assume it's spam. They're just going to assume they don't remember her. These guys walk with swagger because they know they're carrying an Army issued Big Pair (TM), which likely clouds their judgement sometimes.

    I'd say more about TFA, but Firefox is telling me that the URL is redirecting in a way that can never resolve, so I have no idea of what it actually says. :-P

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  8. Re:I'm pretty sure by Red+Flayer · · Score: 2, Funny

    There's nothing more costly to security than security based on false fears.

    Except overwhelming force.

    And the Spanish Inquisition.

    --
    "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  9. Re:Only link that matters by hannson · · Score: 3, Funny

    News flash: Windows' "folders" aren't real folders, Twitter's "tweets" do not come from little birds, and you are not in physical contact with your Linkedin "connections."

    But cybersex still counts, right?

  10. Yo, Abdullah... by zogger · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...yes, Mohammed?

    "I am sitting here in my mud hut and checking facebook, and son of a pig! Did you know we have infidels sneaking around our territory"?

    "No way"!

    "Way! Praise be Allah we have facebook to tell us these things, else, we would not know"!

  11. Re:Only link that matters by trentblase · · Score: 2, Funny

    I encourage you to also take "Facebook" literally.