Ep. 128, host Chris Hadnagy speaks with Alethe Denis, winner of last year’s SECTF and coveted black badge. Find out what Alethe learned from previous mistakes that helped her dominate the competition. You’ll also hear Alethe’s take on the differences between real-life and competitive vishing. – April 13, 2020

Download

Ep. 128 – OSINT, Vishing and the Winning the SECTF with Alethe Denis

View on iTunes

Get Involved

Got a great idea for an upcoming podcast? Send us a quick message on the contact form!

Enjoy the Outtro Music? Thanks to Clutch for allowing us to use Emily Dickinson as our new SEPodcast Theme Music

And check out a schedule for all our training at Social-Engineer, LLC.

Check out the Innocent Lives Foundation to help unmask online child predators.

Show Notes

Ep. 128
  • Alethe shares her initial thoughts on receiving details about her target company.
  • One mistake Alethe made in her first competition was misunderstanding that you can repeat flags.
  • Alethe outlines how she prepared for the second competition, including watching re-enactment videos.
  • Chris and Alethe discuss the importance of pretext and the key switch Alethe made.
  • Alethe describes the experience of bringing a young baby to DefCon.
  • She spent over 100 hours of time on her OSINT report. She spent even more time getting ready for the calls.
  • Alethe tells us the most dangerous OSINT she found in her research.
  • Alethe compares real-life vishing to competitive vishing.
  • The time factor gave Alethe anxiety during her first competition. Learn how she managed this the second time around.
  • They discuss the name game and how to use it effectively or ineffectively.
  • Learn the important way the black badge changed Alethe’s life.

 

3 Key Points:

  1. Dedicate a big chunk of time to prepare for the conference by listening to podcast episodes, watching re-enactments, and preparing your OSINT report.
  2. In her OSINT research, Alethe was able to find information as dangerous as the types of equipment and software the company used freely available to the public.
  3. In real-life vishing, you have time to establish rapport. Competitive vishing moves much faster.

 

Resources Mentioned:

BACK TO PODCASTS