Attractive, non-existent woman on internet easily makes inroads in military, intel, and hacker circles
By Laura June 
posted July 23rd 2010 11:03AM
posted July 23rd 2010 11:03AM
Thomas Ryan of Provide Security's making it public knowledge that social networking sites aren't just annoying: they're also potentially major security threats. Ryan set up a fake Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter account for "Robin Sage," a person who doesn't exist and never has -- but we can assure you she's really, really hot. Robin billed herself as a graduate of MIT and a prestigious New Hampshire prep school, and quickly made hundreds of connections across all three sites, without ever offering any proof of her existence or the connections she espoused. Even more stunning, "Robin" was befriending military, government and intel people on Facebook and Linked In (where she dubbed herself a "hacker"), and hackers on Twitter. Ryan's findings state that the military and intel "friends" Robin made freely share information and documents with her, as well as inviting her to various conferences. Interestingly, it turns out the only group that was in anyway resistant to Robin were the MIT-associated people... but we knew they were all whip-smart already. Moral? Next time you accept the request of a beautiful, intelligent hacker who wants to come over and view your secret dossiers, you should probably think twice.
Cue sexist jokes :)
@hammydbest
Fact 1: There are no women on the internet.
Fact 2: Anyone posing as a woman on the internet should be greeted with "tits or GTFO"; no exceptions.
Queue permaban from Laura in 3.. 2... wait, I was just kidding!!! 0=)
@Ducman69 Fact 3: do not be fooled by man bewbs
@hammydbest Robin Sage is the name of a U.S. military field exercise - specifically, the final field test for Special Forces candidates to get their SF tab (badge). It's pretty rigorous. This is especially funny to us ex-military types who participated in, or know about Robin Sage.
@Kaitou KID
Man boobs or as you called them "man bewbs" and in fact call moobs.
Example 1: Ewww, Jeff, take a look at that the moobs on that guy! Nasty!
Example 2: "And in the event of a water landing, your moobs can act as a flotation device..."
Yeah, don't show off your small "dossier".. ;)
the moral of the subject is this: men are suckers for pretty women. There is no fix, no cure. That is all.
@napdaddy from the image above she doesn't even have to be pretty, or have a face. She just has to say she's pretty.
@jonbruc
Yeah, we're a sucker for that too.
As well as hanging out with a girl till the wee hours of the night when there is like a 5% chance that we will end up getting lucky. It rarely pays off, and we engadgeteers go home tired, horny and pissed off we stayed up so late for nothing.
@napdaddy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea9Rg5760tE
@napdaddy Yeah this girl was pretty cute, but I think the girl emailing me now is hotter. I've already sent her a few payments to come to the U.S. to see me, she says she just needs a few more $500 payments until she can make it. Her name was Anastasia something or other, sounded russian...
@napdaddy 5% IS PLENTY! WHAT ARE YOU COMPLAINING ABOUT!!
@napdaddy WRONG!
Moral: Every hot chick on the internet is a DUDE!
@napdaddy If there's a cure for this, I don't want it, I run from it. If there's a remedy, I don't need it, I just eat it.
@napdaddy
Actually, there is a cure: drugs that diminish one's libido. Even common anti-depressants tend to do that. I've seen some men go from sex-crazed dickslaves to being able to turn down a bootiful girl without breaking a sweat.
@napdaddy If there's a cure for this, I don't want it, I run from it. If there's a remedy, I don't need it, I just eat it.
@napdaddy i've made that argument about women in the military. its not that women aren't capable, its that men are so easily made idiots around them. SEE??!
@Dnomyar220 Does she have a sister?
@glamajamma
Scary. I might have gotten caught if she said it was hers, but definitely not if she said she was stealing it.
@Andie: In other words... worst drugs ever.
@jonbruc
No, she's actually cute: http://www.blogger.com/profile/15235672203426620416
@Alan Strangis
Generally I would agree, but AFAIK they're great when you've got a demanding task on your hands that requires great concentration - one less thing to occupy your mind, you see. Maybe that's why they regularly used these drugs in the military in the olden days - to keep minds from wandering from the task at hand. Some men have also told me they actually make picking up babes easier, as interaction becomes less forced. How ironic is that?
@Andie Im living proof
There's no patch nor upgrade for human stupidity.
@Pitchy maybe if you root it you can install 3rd party applications to prevent it. :)
@froggy third party apps... you mean children?
@hj
3rd party though... so... test tube babies?
There should be some sort of centralized employment verification database. It can be optional.
Wait so that chick that wanted to show pictures of her new piercing to me on facebook... wasn't real?
The MIT grads were only resistant to her because they know there's know such thing as an attractive MIT grad.
@bobloblaw
dude, didn't you see 21? they are everywhere up there, you just have to take off their glasses first
@bobloblaw
i go to MIT...and you are so, so right.
also, sweet name.
@bobloblaw Though it's pretty obvious I didn't attend MIT considering I can't correctly use 'know' vs. 'no'
@bobloblaw Which is why you're the perfect lawyer for the Bluths :)
@bobloblaw
Any and all interaction between bobloblaw via online comment areas can be considered billable time.
@bobloblaw
Thats weird, 'cause I didn't even knowtice until you pointed it out.
Robin Sage is the name of one of the exercises that U.S. Special Forces soldiers go through at the end of training. It's kind of funny and almost certainly intentional that he chose that as the name.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/robin-sage.htm
"[During Robin Sage],the 12- to 15-man Operational Detachment Alphas complete a grueling unconventional warfare scenario that encompasses all that they have learned. "
@TonyRockyHorror
"Gosh, that name sounds so familiar, I must know this person!"
@TonyRockyHorror
You don't speak of "The Unit"....or you get saged.
Funny how all the security in the world can't prevent a guy from becoming bewildered by an attractive woman.
@tasteskindasalty
You'll find that despite all the money that goes into "securing" things, most real intelligence slips/espionage happen exactly like you said - the feminine wink and smile, or just plain ol paying off a secretary or janitor.
I find this research as flawed, in that it took the same assumption that others took of it. I mean it assumed that others were stupid. Could it be that those Military sites provided info, though apparently sensitive could have been retrieved through numerous legal means. it could be that the forwarded these documents in order to ascertain feedback and determine the intellectual authenticity of this so called "mystery woman".
Thomas Ryan might just have been the one who was 'punk'd'
Wow now this is funny but not surprising
Damn. Why you gotta play me like that?
Huh?
@John Doe Nice. I apparently can't say A1o77a F@gina on Engadget. WTF guys.
Anyways. as I was trying to say before Engadget's ret@rded filters kicked in...I wonder how many more friends she would have gotten if he named her A1o77a F@gina.
Quote from that article:
I was never able to friend anyone from the CIA or the FBI. I tried. It just didn't work. Toward the end of the experiment, there was this massive influx of Arabs from overseas that were trying to get on the Robin page where all the military stuff was. I didn't really care for it. That was a bit scary.
How is this newsworthy, Laura?
~ Yawn ~
@Superchip It just shows that people need to pay attention and educate the people with access to sensitive information. Don't assume people have common sense. Most seem to be short on it. This article just brings it to peoples attention.
I assume you were commenting on why Laura wrote about this... Your quote you copied from the original article was not written by Laura, and it looks as if you mean to ask her why she wrote it.
@TechZeal
I see. I thought it was just another "security guy" trying to get some cheap publicity.