Alright, let me tell you about this ‘new york white hat’ thing I did a while back. It wasn’t some big conference gig, more like a hands-on project that landed in my lap, kinda unexpectedly.
It started with an email. Someone got my name from someone else, you know how it goes. Small business owner in NYC, running a little online shop, worried about security. They weren’t tech folks, just regular people trying to make a living, and they’d heard horror stories. They wanted someone to just… check things out. Make sure they weren’t wide open. They specifically used the term ‘white hat’, which was good – meant they understood I was there to help, not cause trouble.
Getting Started
First thing was a video call. Had to see them face-to-face, virtually speaking. Get a feel for what they really needed and, more importantly, make sure we were clear on the rules. You absolutely need clear permission before you touch anything. We agreed on what I could look at – basically just their public website and the shop part. No digging into internal stuff, no trying to break things just for fun. Purely looking for obvious weak spots.
So, I got the written permission sorted. That piece of paper is key. Then I basically just blocked out some time. Didn’t need a fancy lab or anything. Just my usual setup, my laptop, a good internet connection, and a strong cup of coffee.
The Actual Poking Around
I started simple. Like, really simple.
- Looked at the website structure itself. How was it built? Any outdated stuff visible?
- Checked the login pages. Tried some common, silly passwords just to see. You’d be surprised.
- Scanned for open ports or services that shouldn’t be public. Basic network checks.
- Clicked around the shop, looked at how data was sent when I added something to the cart or went to checkout.
Didn’t use any crazy tools, mostly standard stuff you can find easily. The goal wasn’t to be a super hacker, but to see if they’d missed any basic security steps. It’s often the simple stuff that trips people up.
And guess what? I found something. Not huge, nothing dramatic, but definitely something that needed fixing. It was related to how user info was handled in one specific part of the checkout process. Easy to overlook if you’re not specifically looking for it.
Wrapping It Up
Finding the issue is only half the job. The important part is explaining it. So, I wrote up a short report. No jargon, no scary technical terms. Just plain English:
“Here’s what I looked at. Here’s a potential weak spot I found. Here’s why it’s a problem, in simple terms. And here’s what you can probably do to fix it.”
Sent it over, then had another quick call to walk them through it. Answered their questions. They were really grateful, mostly relieved it wasn’t something catastrophic. They actually got their web guy to fix it pretty quickly.
That was basically it. Just a straightforward piece of work, helping someone out. Felt good, honestly. Doing this ‘white hat’ stuff, you’re using skills for good, helping protect people. Especially small outfits like that one in New York, they don’t have big security teams. Sometimes they just need someone to take an honest look. Felt like a good day’s work.
