At 12:30 a.m. on September 11, two male employees of Colorado-based Coalfire were arrested for third-degree theft and possession of State Court Administrative (SCA) burglary tools. They claimed they were at the location for pen testing.
But let's start from the beginning. The SCA hired a cybersecurity firm to pen test electronic records in Dallas County. Instead, a few days ago, local police officers spotted two men, ages 29 and 43, attempting to break into the building.
They quickly told the officers that they worked for Coalfire and that their presence at the SCA was for the pen testing. They also claimed that their patrol around the building was part of the deal, as their duties included checking the system and police response time. However, Dallas County officials were not aware.
As officials later stated, the two men did indeed work for the company that had been hired to audit the records. Essentially, this would involve attempting unauthorized access to court records through various means to identify any vulnerabilities. However, the SCA had not anticipated the forced entry into one of the buildings in the complex.
This was the reason why the two alleged pen testers were immediately arrested and are set to appear before the judge for a preliminary hearing on September 23.
Coalfire declined to comment on the matter, citing an active legal matter. However, it did tell SC Magazine that it has conducted over 10,000 pen tests since 2001 and that all employees work diligently to ensure that engagements are carried out with the utmost integrity and are aligned with the client’s goals.
