00:00The company that enables hundreds of Crime Stoppers programs, law enforcement agencies,
00:04schools, and the U.S. military to receive crime tips was hacked.
00:07But how do hacks like these even happen? I'll explain in 90 seconds for your Tech in 90.
00:11P3 Global Intel makes software that allows anyone to anonymously share crime tips over the phone,
00:16online, or through its smartphone app. Now, Hollywood may have you thinking that these
00:19breaches involve hackers typing complex code into a computer terminal in order to
00:23breach a firewall or mainframe, but in this hack, and many others, it all began with social
00:28engineering, a technique that exploits weaknesses not in computers, but in people.
00:32The hackers claim to have tricked a P3 employee, perhaps by getting them to click a malicious link,
00:37into exposing their browser cookies. You may know that cookies help websites remember information
00:41like login details. The hackers found an unencrypted cookie that had stored the employee's login
00:46credentials for P3 system. When hackers stole the cookie, they gave access to P3 system as if they
00:51were that employee. Once inside, the hackers were able to exploit other vulnerabilities to download
00:55nearly 40 years worth of Crime Tip records. More on this and other tech stories at san.com.
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