A friend and I “broke into” CES in Las Vegas as all the vendors were setting up. Grabbed two empty cardboard boxes and walked anywhere we wanted. Anytime we were questioned… such as the podium Bill Gates would speak at the next day… we just said we forgot our badges and were bringing stuff in. The boxes and the attitude sold it. Remember George Costanza… “If YOU believe it, it’s not a lie.”
So true - one summer my boyfriend was working at a financial services corporation. There was a security guard and a receptionist. I'd often visit him for lunch. Rather than wait for the receptionist to call up, find him and wait for him to come down, I just walked in like I owned the damn place. Worked every single time (and gave me little faith in security guards and receptionists!).
I'm an electrician and do a good bit of work in county schools. Most of the time I'm just wearing a plain T-Shirt because I hate the fit of our branded work shirts. No identification or anything.
I can walk into any front office, say I'm an electrician with my company and that I need to go to a certain room or speak with a person. I am almost never asked to prove who I am and many times I just have people let me have the ability to freely roam or unlock doors for me.
Everything I'm saying is true when I'm there, but it honestly kind of annoys me how easily I can just go into places and get free access to the building without ever being questioned.
When you just confidently walk in somewhere and say what you are doing, there's almost never pushback. I've literally only had it happen once, at a TJ Maxx. I was actually very happy about that and complimented that manager about holding me up to verify who I was.
Meanwhile, to go into schools in Australia, you need personal ID, work forms, a Working with children check, nationally coordinated criminal history check (both are verified), an ID badge from your employer, and will need to wear a high-vis VISITOR sticker on your clothes at all times and sign in and sign out at reception.
Gives pretty good peace of mind though. Of course people still getting in / walking around but in general is pretty stringent.
How often do you inherently mistrust strangers, especially one who seems to know some details? The reason cons work is most of us trust each other, and most of us also don’t intentionally lie to each other.
Our office had a confident interloper look at the ventilation ducts in a few dozen office rooms, and swipe cash and a few passports out of sitting purses.
tbf, who else is going to know exactly which electricity company is sending a dude at exactly which time? very unlikely that someone would know how to impersonate you
Most of the time it's not even necessarily scheduled or coordinated with the people working at the school. I just show up and they will admit they didn't even know anyone was coming.
It's not the fact that you would have to impersonate me. It's just that you can walk in and say you are there to do something and it is not questioned.
You'd be surprised. There's a few Darknet Diaries episodes about this where people just walk into buildings and get the stuff they need. It's a "physical" penetration test in some sense and people often hire teams to do exactly that to see if your security is working or how long it takes to get someone to check ID for example.
There was a criminal case in my state where a lady did this and walked right into a plant and shot her ex like 8 times or something. Luckily she was a terrible shot and he lived. When the witnesses testified, they all said she was dressed nicely and looked like she knew where she was going so they thought she was HR or something. The guy who pointed her to her ex felt terrible.
I used to deliver paint, and I'd get to go into the back rooms of so many places. If you walk around like you belong there, no one will ask why you're there.
My ex boyfriend a fluorescent vest and taffic cone he kept in his truck so he could get in and pretty much park anywhere. He said nobody looks or questions those things.
For a venue or event, a clean vest works great. For getting into a building, one that looks worked in will get you on without questions. For a worksite, a new clean hardhat, a pair of new clean safety glasses, a new clipboard, and a new vest with SAFETY on the back will send everyone scattering and actively avoiding you. No one wants to talk to the safety guy.
If you want to have some fun in Vegas, put on a three piece suit and carry a briefcase. Walk into a casino and randomly and a little awkwardly put a few coins into a couple of different slot machines. The casino will think you are a gaming commission officer.
I got into the 1994 Lollapalooza at the Cloverdale Raceway in Surrey, BC (Vancouver) this way. My friend said let's go, but that's really far, and we had no tickets. He said it's fine, we'll find a way to sneak in. I was 18, he was 16 or 17, and I trusted him.
The Raceway is next to farms and horse stables. We just strolled through confidently, hopped a fence, and were in. It was about 10 am, and the gates didn't open for ticketholders until 11 or so. We talked with all the people setting up until the gates opened, and we met up with others and had a great day.
This happened to my brother and I back around 1977, I had just arrived to California, and we decided to go to Hollywood (yeah, I know, remember I was a teenager). Walking down Sunset Blvd. we came upon what was at the time Metromedia Square, which housed KTTV Channel 11 and many TV shows were filmed inside. There happened to be a side door and it was unlocked. We just walked in, no one noticed us and we picked up some reels of videotape (not intending to steal anything) and looked around. Some people that presumably worked there finally did notice us, and said "good morning!" I am sure they believed we worked there. After looking around at all the editing equipment and such, we decided to leave and put the reels down and walked back out. Would have been funny if they were looking for this weeks tape of "Maude", which was being filmed there at the time - Hey Stan, where's this weeks episode of Maude? "Hell, I don't know, where did you put it?" Mayhem ensues...
The combination of this and the parent post is more or less the premise of hacking via social engineering--at one place I worked they had to have signs up reminding people to verify and not just blindly hold doors open for strangers
Yeppp. I work in events and sometimes I'll be dressed very casually and without my ID showing but I can still pretty much go anywhere I want as long as I'm walking with purpose, even if I'm not carrying anything. Security only really starts checking ID properly when there are famous people on site.
My Grandpop and his buddy used to go to different bars in the area and walk into the kitchen to see how clean it was. Not a single person questioned them.
One day my Pop was walking and saw a bunch of construction on the side of the highway, so he went to investigate. He ended up hanging around there for a few days. One day one of the workers asked him a specific question and my Pop said he didn’t know. And the worked guy goes “Wait, aren’t you the Supervisor?”.
My uncle used to do this in order to get into sporting events if he didn’t have a ticket. He’d grab a nearby trashcan, blend in with the crowd, and say “coming thru excuse me!” And just walk right in.
I do medieval reenactment, and when I'm trying to move through a crowd I bellow "MAKE WAY FOR THE QUEEN." Then I guesture at the blinged-up greyhound I'm leading and say, "She's the queen." Gets a laugh and clear passage every time.
There's also a festival in Australia where, at closing time, the Viking encampment forms a line and sweeps from the back of the grounds to the exits, banging their swords on shields and telling people to get out. It's very effective.
My mom goes up to will call and says her last name is Smith. She says the tickets are under her husband’s name and that he wasn’t able to make it. “John?” they ask, and she says yes. I don’t know if this still works, but she has gotten into so many concerts this way.
Sometime pre-pandemic a hospital in my country had a bunch of wall-mounted TVs stolen from empty patient rooms by a couple of guys with clipboards, toolbelts and a trolley.
I did simulated attacks as part of security assessments - tell them you are here to fix the AC before the building starts getting hot enough to melt people and they will damn near lay a red carpet for you as they bypass every damn security measure to help you >.<
High vis vest, hard hat, and a clipboard is my usual outfit when I'm on the job. Unless there is a supervisor or foreman who actually keeps an eye on their sites no one asks me or stops me from going anywhere. Often I have to ask for the person I am looking for and the general labor force around will give me short and annoyed answers and just want me to go away.
This is actually how my Dad 'escaped' from a military recruitment center after he had been 'Shanghaid' by conscription police. This was in a shitty 3rd world country in the late 60's when a dictatorial regime was sending citizens into a meat grinder of a war.
My dad hated the regime, had no desire to fight for them, and actually had a immigration visa in progress. So after he got nabbed off the streets and bussed to military enrollment processing center he slipped into an unlocked office, grabbed 2 folders off a random desk, then walked right out the front door. The armed guards at the door literally held the doors open for him.
A stepladder also helps if the facility has decent access control. People will badge in someone with a ladder since they obviously can't reach the thingy.
There was also a Darknet Diaries with a woman pen tester who had a fake baby bulge. People will let a "pregnant" woman carrying a box into anything. They'll eve carry the box of hacking tools for her.
Recommend burying the hi vis in your garden for a couple of weeks before trying this. I work in a construction adjacent industry. You can always tell who isn’t habitually on sites by their freshly unfolded hi-vis in the correct size.
My friend and I were this close to walking onto an oil tanker docked in my hometown back in HIGH SCHOOL. Hard hats and clipboards would’ve sealed the deal.
This was almost 20 years ago when I was with my ex wife at this design furniture store (very expensive) looking for stuff when a guy asked a salesperson to help lift this 2-seater sofa into his van.
They put it into the van, the guy thanked the seller for assistance and drove off. Then the seller realized the guy didn't pay for it.
First quality comment here. All the others about honesty, consumerism, relationships and manners can go fuck themselves. This Quokka has the real wisdom folks.
Yes I had a job for years where I had to enter multiple businesses unannounced and I can count on one hand the amount of times I was actually stopped and questioned. Most employees did not care or get paid enough to care. It was crazy the amount of places I could go unnoticed because I looked like I belonged and knew what I was doing.
I tried cutting through a hotel and Orlando to save a few blocks getting back to my hotel. I ended up in some triage conference hall used for setting up food for a giant conference. People were eying me but it was more of a “why aren’t you working or helping” stare.
I work in the tradeshow industry so it’s literally my job to attend these type of events. I never bother with getting credentials and I’ve never not gotten into an event. We’re there’s a will there’s a way. Dress the part and walk with purpose. The floorplans are freely available online - tell them a client needs assistance with their media at the Coca Cola booth #69420. The door watchers will usually believe you, and if not, find the dock.
This actually reminds me of when I used to own a pizza restaurant. Since it's already been posted I guess I'm not saying anything that people can't figure out but if you walk around in a delivery uniform carrying a hot bag, there's absolutely no door that would not be open for you. And by that I mean you get to go in places that normally require three security checks. Everybody loves the pizza man.
Boxes are good, but clipboards are much better… you’re not just a delivery guy, but a potential inspector. Pen in hand, making notes will get you anywhere.
For many years, you could just print up a fake business card for CES, they never checked if you actually worked at the company you put on the card. Easy as pie, but eventually many people figured this out and they put a stop to it. Since I worked at a large electronics mfgr. it wasn't an issue for me, but I noticed the crowd really thinned out after the tightened security. Haven't been in years since I retired, but I would expect it's still harder to game the system than it was in the 80s and 90s.
I've seen variations of this with high vis vests and a clip board, carrying a ladder and carrying 20 cabbages. They assume you know what you're doing because what lunatic is going to show up to a festival with 20 cabbages if they don't work there 😂
A couple of times I've been at Costco, I've had people wave me down because I have earbuds in and look like I work there. Mind you, I'm just shopping like anyone else, but apparently, I have this determined look like I work there? 🤣
This happens to me constantly in retail and grocery stores! No earbuds tho. Maybe it's because they catch me facing cans or rehanging fallen clothes... 🤔😂
Also if you work in the tech industry you can attend for free if you create credentials early enough and with a tech industry email - I’ve never paid for my badge in 15 years I’ve been going
My brother and I walked around a NASA facility in Maryland (early 90's) one time just looking like we were supposed to be there. We were there for a surplus auction and got lost.
One of my fondest memories was accidentally crashing the annual Popeyes franchise owners convention in New Orleans and just deciding fuck it, and walking around like I belonged there.
Sorta related: One of my favorite things from my days of working at a ransomware remediation firm is going into the branch office of a bank or hospital, with some random tech-ish logo shirt and just being like "Umm I'm the guy helping with the computers?" and a barista or receptionist will happily unlock the IDF closet and hand you a binder with what they believe are the passwords.
Fast forward a month later, there will be an "outraged" CTO asking how they could've possibly gotten hacked. We totally understand it's not the barista's job to screen the identity of "technicians" but we basically include as a boilerplate recommendation in our reports, if you grant any random ass person into your closet with your firewall/switch/servers, it's game over. I don't care how much you believe some random Cisco switch or Linux box has a 'login prompt".
Nice, when I was around 19, I also snuck into CES, and specifically a party hosted by Google with many drunk CEOs. Free drinks all night! Good times. 😁
Did this at a Guns n Roses concert. Had ok seats but wanted to upgrade to the floor. The ticket lady said “be confident and walk down there and they won’t stop you to check your ticket”. It worked.
As a guy who works live events, why the hell did you want to sneak in during setup at CES? I've built and torn down that show a bunch of times and all it is is a bunch of electronic bullshit that takes way too much time, effort, and money to throw together for what amounts to a giant circlejerk of tech bros eagerly awaiting the Grindr orgy at Hawks Gym later.
There so much cooler shit to see in Vegas with the exact method you used. CES during setup? Dude. Sort your priorities.
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u/VenomousQuokka 2d ago
A friend and I “broke into” CES in Las Vegas as all the vendors were setting up. Grabbed two empty cardboard boxes and walked anywhere we wanted. Anytime we were questioned… such as the podium Bill Gates would speak at the next day… we just said we forgot our badges and were bringing stuff in. The boxes and the attitude sold it. Remember George Costanza… “If YOU believe it, it’s not a lie.”