Joe Grand on Hardware Hacking, L0pht and Testifying Before the Senate

Summary

Hardware hacker Joe Grand recounts his early hacking, L0pht’s vulnerability research and 1998 Senate testimony, including his work on electromagnetic eavesdropping and pager interception.

Key points

• Grand described early unauthorized access to credit records and impersonation of cardholders to obtain replacement credit cards.
• L0pht researched computer vulnerabilities and released L0phtCrack, a tool that can crack Windows passwords.
• In 1998 Senate testimony, Grand described researching how electromagnetic emissions from computer terminals could reveal screen contents and sensitive information.
• Grand said L0pht released exploit code after reporting vulnerabilities to vendors, contributing to debates about disclosure and remediation.
• Grand built a device that captured and decoded pager transmissions, including messages not intended for him.