Three dark figures moved swiftly through the night as the sleet pelted the pavement leading to the office complex. It was after midnight, and two members of the trio watched for security personnel, while the other one tried to pick the lock to a side entrance. When the effort failed, the group began to search the perimeter of the building looking for another way to get inside. After prying open a slightly cracked window and climbing through, their mission officially began.
The organized team spent roughly two hours scouring the building completely unnoticed by on-site security. They rifled through papers, took documents and laptops, and successfully infiltrated the company’s network through unsecured network ports. After leaving the premises unchallenged, the team returned the following evening – this time through the front door sporting cloned employee badges. The team freely strolled throughout the entire campus, even after speaking with security officers. Although this illustration sounds like the beginning of a plot for an action thriller, it was actually a legitimate assignment executed by a team of ethical hackers hired by the organization to expose its security vulnerabilities.