BRIAN BRUSHWOOD: The following program contains secret hacks.
Attempting some of these shortcuts
can be dangerous and is ill-advised.
[tires screech]
[grunting]
So you've been abducted. You're in zip ties.
In this case, I'm zip-tied in front.
You might be able to escape from zip ties
by pulling the teeth to the center,
right in between your wrists.
And here's the counterintuitive part.
You're gonna pull it as tight as you can with your teeth.
Those teeth are the weak spot.
Once they're nice and tight between the wrist...
[grunting]
...you're gonna put your arms above your head.
You're gonna blast down with extreme force in one percussive burst.
And if all goes well...
all you have to do is run like hell.
I'm Brian Brushwood and this isHacking the System.
I've picked up tools of scientists and spies,
of criminals and con artists.
I've mastered incredible tricks and dangerous stunts
as a professional magician.
Now, I have an encyclopedia of shortcuts,
secret data, and helpful hacks
designed to help you make life easier,
and give you the upper hand,
especially when it comes to personal security.
[camera shutter clicking]
This is my buddy Mitch.
He doesn't think anyone could compromise his personal security.
and he's challenged me to try.
I'm going to invade Mitch's entire life
and he won't even know what's happened
until it's too late.
He's got no idea of when or where I'll begin my assault.
Jason and I are going to start right now
by following him to work.
Mitch has no idea we're following him and that's his first mistake.
The last place most people expect to have their security compromised is on the job.
So dropping his guard may be his next mistake.
-[camera shutter clicking] -Now we know where he works.
Go time.
Research shows that somewhere between
one-third and three-quarters of employees
steal from their place of work.
And I'm not just talking about a raid
on the stationary cabinet.
Valuable personal information is up for grabs
every day of the week.
Jason and I are posing as copier repairmen.
This way we can walk right into the office
wearing cameras in broad daylight
and have an excuse if anyone stops us.
I have a camera hidden in my toolbox
and Jason's wearing one on his shirt.
Let's see if anyone even notices.
First layer of security is the receptionist.
Let's see if she stops us.
Bri-de-bada-boo. Hi. How's it going?
-Hi. How are you? -I'm good.
I'm here to replace the pressure roller on the copier.
Oh, okay.
Are you new?
Uh, no, I've been working here for a couple months.
We must've just missed each other.
Uh, Jason's new. New trainee, first day on the job.
Con artists will try to distract you
just like I did the receptionist
by putting her attention on Jason
and making him seem unthreatening,
so hopefully she won't ask for ID.
Do you have ID on you?
Yeah.
All right, so she did ask for ID.
Clearly Jason wasn't distracting enough.
All right, Murphy, pop quiz.
What does an official corporate ID look like?
-Uh, it's gonna-- -Aha!
There isn't one.
Every company's different, every ID's different.
And if you don't know what you're looking for,
it's way easy to fool people.
Grab that junk mail over there, and look in the trash.
See if you can find me something with a barcode on it.
There we go. We got a logo.
We got my name on it.
And then the ultimate seal of approval, a hologram.
And just like that, boom, I'm a copy doctor
and I never even went to copy medical school.
That's just how easy it is for someone to make a fake ID.
For your own safety, contact the service provider
for confirmation before letting anyone
into your home or office.
-Stella, I got a question for ya. -Yeah.
Yup, I noticed her name on the tag.
Using her name creates a personal connection.
This is an old salesman's trick.
That color right there, every time I come in,
I wanna call it either sky blue or powder blue,
but I can't figure out which one.
Then I followed up with a question.
Remember, the person asking the questions
is the one in charge of the conversation,
a tactic a crook might use
to make sure she doesn't look too closely
or check with the supervisor.
STELLA: I would say it's a sky blue.
-Right on. -All right.
It's right down the hall on the right.
Go right ahead. Thank you.
The ID worked and we have access to Mitch's office,
but the game will be up if he spots me.
In the workplace, it's not uncommon
for people to leave all kinds of valuables
out in the open, like a cell phone, a laptop,
even your wallet,
but I'm going to ignore all these easy pickings
for something Mitch isn't expecting,
the copy machine.
You'd be amazed at what kind of documents
people leave everywhere at offices.
I'm talking about all kinds of
important personal corporate information
and I'm not interested in old copies.
I'm interested in what's inside here.
I want the hard drive.
Almost every digital copier made in the last 10 years has one
and they could be packed with valuable info.
Company documents,
employee'’s personal identification.
If Mitch has used this copier for any personal documents,
I may be able to access them off this drive.
My access depends on the brand and settings of the copier.
But if Mitch's company isn't using a copier security program,
who knows what I can find.
Now a real bad guy would just swap this out
for a brand new drive and nobody would know.
I'll return this once I've proven my point to Mitch.
Let's go.
That was too easy,
so I'm gonna see if I can rattle Mitch's cage
a little more before I go.
I wonder if he's in the office.
Apparently Mitch's street smarts don't apply to the office.
He just left his keys right here.
Just goes to show you
that leaving personal items on your desk
can leave you wide open to all kinds of theft.
All done. Thanks.
Luckily for Mitch, I just plan to have some fun.
In the US, cars are stolen
at a rate of more than one per minute.
And in one study, they found that 85% of stolen vehicles
are taken using the keys.
Oh, Mitch, I am so very sorry
that I am 12 years old and that your clock is changed,
and that I'm making it very loud, and very hot.
I'll leave this in there as well.
I'll tell you what that's about later.
And finally, some photographic evidence.
[camera shutter clicks]
Mitch loves his car.
We'll see if he notices that it's moved.
-Just right there. -Yeah.
Come on.
Before I go, I'll tell Stella
I found Mitch's keys in the parking lot,
and of course, take a moment to savor my victory.
JASON: Here he comes.
BRIAN: He looks confused.
[laughs]
I mean, at least we left him with a full tank of gas.
JASON: Poor guy.
BRIAN: Quick quiz,
which state has the most car thefts in the US?
Florida, Illinois, California, or Michigan?
The answer is California.
California is home to eight of the top ten cities
for stolen vehicles.
We infiltrated Mitch's office
and got the hard drive without a hitch.
Now, let's find out what's on this hard drive.
These drives can have an astonishing amount
of sensitive information.
In the wrong hands, you could really do some damage.
We're talking about start records for every employee,
Social Security cards, passports.
It turns out, you can recover quite a bit.
Like what?
Like this.
[laughs]
Oh, somebody had fun at the company party.
BRIAN: Unfortunately, I can't show you
what's on this photo copy.
Let's just say you should keep all your body parts
off the company copier.
Look, we're only interested in Mitch,
so I'm gonna destroy all these.
We'll start with his employee hire date
and see what we can find.
Here we go.
Mitch's personal information.
If I really meant him harm,
he'd be in a world of trouble now.
He looks super-serious in his passport photo,
but we got his complete Social Security number.
We got banking information.
If we really wanted to mess with him,
we could turn his whole world upside down.
Many work copiers come with software packages
that encrypt data and overwrite it
so it doesn't stay there indefinitely.
But if you really wanna play it safe,
never make copies of sensitive documents
using public equipment.
Use your own printer and scanner instead.
Speaking of which, time to destroy these documents.
I have a trick for that too.
All right, Jason, say you've got a mountain of paperwork to destroy,
and your shredder's not up to the challenge
and you don't have a fireplace.
Let me show you an easy way to destroy documents in bulk
using stuff you already have around the house.
All you need is a bucket of water, some bleach,
and something to stir it with, like that drill.
So start by adding your documents right in the water,
get 'em all softened up and blended around.
[whirring]
Look at that.
Holy crud, that went fast.
But if you wanna make sure that it's all the way gone,
throw some bleach in there,
and practically in no time, the data is gone.
Messy, but effective.
BRIAN: In just one day,
Jason and I managed to completely breach
Mitch's personal security.
I could steal his identity now.
We're back at it, tailing him to see how else
we can infiltrate his personal security.
But with his track record,
I'll be surprised if he notices a thing.
I'm in a white car, very similar to Mitch's.
It's the most inconspicuous car I could find.
Although truthfully, I could be driving
a bright pink Ferrari and I don't think he'd notice.
Here's one for ya.
what color car could reduce your chance
of getting into an accident during the day?
Black, white, grey, or fire engine red?
The answer is white.
Statistically, white cars are about 10% less likely
to be in an accident during the daytime than darker colors.
Maybe that's one of the reasons
white has been the most popular color car in the US
for the last eight years.
Awareness of your surroundings is vital to personal security.
Even a crime like stalking is surprisingly common.
Statistics show that 14 out of every 1,000 adults
will be the victim of stalking over the course of a year.
[camera shutter clicking]
And just so he knows we've been tailing him,
Jason is snapping away at the camera.
[camera shutter clicks]
[camera shutter clicking]
Looks like he's picking up his laundry.
The majestic Mitch in his natural habitat.
If you think you're being followed, there's things you can do.
Many security experts recommend taking four turns in a row.
Most people don't drive around in a circle.
If after taking four turns the car is still behind you,
pull over and stop in a well-lit area.
If the other car stops too, you may have your answer.
Don't get out of the car. Call the police.
I don't think Mitch is aware of any of these hacks.
We've been right on his tail for 30 minutes.
No matter what he does, I'll be able to follow him.
Thanks to the phone I planted in his car yesterday.
Car theft recovery systems are expensive.
But if you want a cheap way to keep tabs on your car,
get an old mobile device or a GPS-enabled smartphone
and stash it in your car.
As long as it's GPS-enabled,
powered up, and connected to the Internet,
you'll be able to pinpoint its location
and the location of your car using any number of services.
I stashed an old tablet in the back of my car
so I could track it at any time.
You could pull off this hack for less than $50.
Another growing security threat involves
hackers accessing your cell phone or your computer
through the Wi-Fi signal.
The problem is that all your emails, log-ins,
and social media are being routed through their network
where they can be monitored and collected.
We've all been in a public space like this subway station
and clicked on a random provider to get on the Internet.
If you do this, you risk giving an identity thief
complete access to your mobile data.
Social media, emails, even your passwords
run the risk of being monitored and collected.
I set up free Wi-Fi here, a hotspot that anyone can use.
I'm a nice guy.
Just not that nice.
I'm allowing people to access the Internet
through my connection
which routes all of their information through my PC,
which means I can see everything.
Usernames, passwords, you name it.
Bingo.
At this point, I could do a lot of damage.
Having secure Internet passwords
is one way to help keep your identity safe.
Let's test your password skills for a moment.
Which of the following password options
would take the longest for a hacker to figure out?
Is it mitch68, copydr, k5jm?3, or say my name?
The answer is say my name.
When it comes to password strength,
the length matters.
Say my name has 11 characters
because the spaces count as symbols
and each additional symbol
makes a password that much harder to hack.
The countermeasures are common sense.
Never use an untrusted Wi-Fi source.
If you're going to use Wi-Fi, set up a VPN,
a virtual private network.
It's easy and you could do it online in just a few minutes.
Finally, never access bank and credit details
on public Wi-Fi.
Another way all of us are susceptible to security breaches
is through ATMs.
If you're like me, you use an ATM all the time.
You can find one on practically every corner,
but did you know you could be a victim of fraud
the second you insert your card?
Pop quiz time. You got the kids in the minivan.
You're gonna watch a movie. You need to grab some cash.
Which one of these do you use?
JASON: It's the same picture.
Not the same.
There's a very important difference between the two.
JASON: It's the same ATM.
BRIAN: Nope.
Come on, you gotta pick one.
-There is no difference. -The movie's starting!
Come on, the kids are screaming. The movie's starting.
JASON: Ah, fine, that one, the one on the right.
-That one. -BRIAN: Congratulations.
-Okay. -You've lost your identity
and all the money in your account.
[laughs] Why?
Because this one has an extra piece of equipment
put over the card slot.
That's an ATM skimmer.
Thieves will put it on for about an hour or so.
And when you slide your card in,
it clones your card for the bad guys.
You don't notice that anything is different or wrong,
but before you know it, your account blows up
because somebody's buying a computer on your dime.
If you see an extra piece of equipment on those,
call the bank.
If the bank is closed, call the cops.
There's a good chance that the person
who placed the skimmer is still somewhere in the area.
You're just giving your money to them.
Well, I mean, they're stealing it.
If you're not sure that the ATM you're about to use
is safe, don't use it.
Usually the skimmer's bulky enough
that you could just give it a shake.
If it comes loose or just doesn't look right,
call the bank and hit up another ATM.
A place you may actually expect thieves to target
is your home.
Most people take measures
to protect their belongings and loved ones,
but not every intruder's after your TV
or the roll of bills stashed in your dresser.
Some intruders want your personal information.
Some may want to ruin your reputation
for revenge or profit.
Thanks to the tracker device I put in Mitch's car,
I know when he's home,
and more importantly, when he's not.
He's got a good security system,
surveillance cameras.
People think they're safe when they have security cameras,
but they may not be.
Thieves can make themselves invisible
to these if they want to.
But today, I'm not planning on breaking in.
I don't have to.
I'll bet I can find the info
I'm looking for right outside.
I'm back at Mitch's place to check out his trash.
After everything I've seen, I'd bet a mint
he never got around to buying a shredder.
And...
What do we got?
We got a cable bill.
We got...
a credit card offer complete with a card.
A bunch of receipts.
In less than 48 hours, I can now know where he eats,
where he spends his money, what his habits are,
and I could just keep trolling through all this info.
Scary stuff.
But how do you even know
when somebody's gone through your trash?
Usually, when it's too late.
Try figuring this one out.
How much did identity thieves cost the US in 2012?
Twenty million dollars, over twenty billion dollars,
or twelve million dollars?
The answer is over 20 billion dollars in losses.
I've got what I needed from Mitch
and now it's finally time to give him the wake up call
he clearly needs.
Jason and I are waiting for him to come home
and give him the shock of his life,
or at least the shock of this week.
Hackers can even violate your house
without ever setting foot inside.
Remember that one guy who took over
an Internet-based baby monitor, started screaming,
"Wake up, baby," in the middle of the night?
-JASON: That's creepy. -BRIAN: Yeah.
Yeah. Parents oftentimes don't even realize
what they're putting out there.
If you have an RF based unit, like Mitch,
It's sending a signal out to everyone in the local area.
I got the exact same unit he has, and watch this.
[chiming]
You could prevent this from happening to you
by not using an RF based camera.
If you're going to connect a camera to the Internet,
make sure it's a good one that's been software updated
and set a strong password
that's different from your Wi-Fi password.
It's not just strangers you need to worry about.
We've all had our share of creepy co-workers
or dodgy roommates or snoopy neighbors.
I've got a few hacks to help keep your home safe.
Jason, come over here.
What's up?
All right, man, say you suspect
somebody's been using your computer
to go who knows where on the Internet.
How would you find out who?
-I would ask them. -[laughs]
I'm sure they would tell you.
Me, I would use UV print powder.
Its invisible to the eye, but it will show up
in an ultraviolet light
and it's extremely difficult to get off your fingers.
It'll come off with a few washings
but hopefully by then you can find out who the bad guy is.
Here. Hack away, sir.
Okay.
[Brian laughs]
-Okay. How about that? -Perfect.
What's this?
Someone's been using my keyboard!
-Dun, dun, dun! -Who could it be?
-[Brian laughing] -Oh, my God, it's me!
It's you. You've been caught red-handed!
-Ugh! -Or glowing blue-handed.
If you're really paranoid,
you could rig up a homemade shocker to your doorknob.
It's not a hard project.
Just go to the hardware store and grab the guts
from an old disposable camera.
Jason, you ready to do this?
I guess so.
Let me guess, you're not gonna tell us
how this works, are you?
Nope.
All right, buddy, here we go.
-Ready? -Yup.
-Ding-dong. -[knock on door]
Come in.
-[crackles] -[screams]
-[screams] I hate you! -[laughing]
Oh, my...
-Ugh! -Was it bad? Was it bad?
You try it.
All right, all right.
[Jason whimpers]
[Brian clears throat]
-[knock on door] -Burglar calling.
Come on in.
[crackles]
[both laughing]
See?
We're at Mitch's place waiting for him
to get home from work.
And according to my records, he should be home
right about, well, now.
Put together a little surprise for Mitch.
It's a dossier of all our greatest hits.
We've got him at the cleaners.
His dry cleaning secrets are secret no more.
[laughing]
But here's the scary part,
driver's license, Social Security,
banking information, passport, birth certificate,
and one sweet, sweet selfie.
JASON: He's gonna wanna frame that.
I mean here's the thing, we're just messing around,
but think of how creepy this would be
if somebody was out to get him.
This is the wake up call he needs.
You're just completely vulnerable.
Yeah.
I'm back online with Mitch's baby monitor.
Time to give him a scare.
[beeps]
[hoarsely] M-i-i-i-i-tch.
M-i-i-i-i-i-i-tch.
Remember when you asked for your security flaws?
Pretty sure I found them.
[Jason and Brian laughing]
Captioned by Point.360