The Vulnerability Researcher's Handbook

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An Introduction to Vulnerabilities

A vulnerability is a characteristic of something that makes that thing susceptible to hazards or damage. Technology is certainly not immune to vulnerabilities. For example, during the 1960s in the United States, AT&T observed one of the first widespread exploitations of vulnerabilities in technology. People found they could subvert telephone systems and avoid paying for services if they played certain tones into telephone receivers. These technology hackers learned that if they understood how the systems worked and what flaws might be present in these systems, they could take advantage of weaknesses in ways that could directly benefit them. Today, the same spirit and enterprising ways of challenging technology ...