Security company sets up real-world ‘hacking’ scenario to show how consumers unwittingly put their personal information at risk

Monday, 14 November 2016 — Information security specialist BH Consulting will feature in a documentary about cybercrime which is being broadcast tonight on RTÉ One. Written and presented by Keelin Shanley, the programme is called Hacked and it looks at security threats facing individuals, businesses and critical national infrastructure in today’s digital world.

As part of the programme, the team from BH Consulting and volunteers created a fake Wi-Fi network at a Dublin coffee shop, offering free connectivity to lure unsuspecting customers into giving away their email addresses. Using the data it was able to harvest from several individuals, the BH Consulting team was able to show how cyber criminals could then profile those targets by tracing their activities on social media and using this information to craft highly targeted phishing scams.

By including recognised cues in their emails, the attackers could trick victims into giving up even more sensitive information about themselves. “We wanted to demonstrate the value of people’s personal information to criminals,” commented Brian Honan, founder and CEO of BH Consulting.

Frontline Films produced the documentary in partnership with Science Foundation Ireland, and it is being broadcast to coincide with Science Week. Frontline Films producer Aoife Kavanagh said the aim of the show is to point out the security risks posed by our growing use of digital technology in everyday life. “We are becoming more and more connected, so it’s about how we can make ourselves safer. Brian Honan is well regarded in the cybersecurity world and he helped the programme makers to explain some of the more complex ideas, and give advice about a common-sense approach to being online,” she said.

Hacked airs Monday Night at 9.35pm on RTÉ One.