Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Study Guide

Chapter 12. Low Tech: Social Engineering and Physical Security

As the story goes, a large truck was barreling down a highway one day carrying equipment needed to complete a major public safety project. The deadline was tight, and the project would be doomed to failure if the parts were delayed for too long. As it journeyed down the road, the truck came to a tunnel and was forced to stop—the overhead clearance was just inches too short, not allowing the truck to pass through, and there was no way around the tunnel. Immediately calls were made to try to solve this problem.

Committees of engineers were quickly formed and solutions drawn up, with no idea too outlandish and no expense spared. Tiger teams of geologists were summoned to gauge the structural integrity of the aging tunnel in preparation for blasting the roof higher for the truck to pass. The US Air Force was consulted on the possibility of airlifting the entire truck over the mountain via helicopter. And while all this was going on, hundreds gathered at the blocked entrance to the tunnel, with everyone postulating their own solution.

A little girl wandered out of the crowd and walked up to the lead engineer, who was standing beside the truck scratching his head and wondering what to do. She asked, “Why is the truck blocking the road?” The man answered, “Because it’s just too tall to get through the tunnel.” She then asked, “And why are all these people here looking at it?” The man calmly answered, “Well, we’re all trying ...