Is it acceptable to do a security test on a company's open WiFi before an interview?

Career Talk Job Search Queries 2 years ago

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Posted on 16 Aug 2022, this text provides information on Job Search Queries related to Career Talk. Please note that while accuracy is prioritized, the data presented might not be entirely correct or up-to-date. This information is offered for general knowledge and informational purposes only, and should not be considered as a substitute for professional advice.

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manpreet Tuteehub forum best answer Best Answer 2 years ago


I was invited to an interview for an IT position in an organization called XYZ.

While waiting in the lobby, I found an open WiFi href="https://forum.tuteehub.com/tag/network">network called XYZ. I connected to it and was greeted with a web page requesting for a href="https://forum.tuteehub.com/tag/username">username and a password. I ran a scan of the connected devices using Fing (an app on href="https://forum.tuteehub.com/tag/android">android) and found that there are some laptops with names XYZ-HR-1 and XYZ-FN-1.

In the interview, I told them that since my position entails some security aspects, I found that the open href="https://forum.tuteehub.com/tag/network">network is a security vulnerability in their href="https://forum.tuteehub.com/tag/network">network.

The IT manager was impressed but the HR representative was not, and acted defensively and said that I am not hired yet to check out their href="https://forum.tuteehub.com/tag/network">network security. I told them that this is a serious issue and should not wait until I or anyone else be hired.

Was I right in telling them that I did that? Did I kill my chances with them? Should I do it again with other job opportunities (if something is discovered by accident)? How can I gain an edge in the interview with this kind of href="https://forum.tuteehub.com/tag/information">information?

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manpreet 2 years ago

A stunt like this would - in most environments - be a show-stopper from HR. The reason for this is very simple: You knew what you were doing, and it was none of your responsibilities to perform the test.

If you happened to come across the issue in a "The shares showed up in the windows explorer" way it would probably have been ok. But a security professional needs to know that running a network scanner on a network, where this was not agreed to by the admin of the network, is definitely under the category "not nice" to "hostile". It may also cause real cost e.g. when you trigger a false alarm. I once wasted a few hours trying to find the source of a scan which some punk from some other department ran without our permission (or anybody else on the internal network).

Depending on the circumstances, one could also imagine that the network is not visible until you are inside the company area. I once worked on a site large enough that you would not see a wifi signal from the outside (without very special measures). In that case there would even be a breach of trust. (I know that it's still not a good idea to run an open wifi, you know, IT guys know, but I don't know if management and HR knows or wants to hear).


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