A script kiddy uses small programs that exploit known holes in software. In this case, Curador used a well-known exploit in a Microsoft program to get the cards. Had the companies who were hacked hired security specialists, it is likely those holes would have been patched. Those companies who were hacked were listed on Curador's site, and as I expected, none of them had any clue they'd been broken into. Some companies were helpful and handed me their logs, while others preferred to ignore the attack and pray that they never appeared in the daily press.
Logs are the records of every computer that connects to a Web site.
They can show whether a person is simply accessing the page to view it, or whether they are trying to break in. Once I had several company logs in hand, it was clear Curador was using the same exploit on all of them. As technical as all this sounds, tacking down Curador and his pal was made easier by their lack of hacking know-how. I realized this while listening to a scratchy-sounding phone interview between an Internet news radio host and Curador, who called the reporter from a pub somewhere in Wales. With my young son Brandon on my lap, I listened to the boasting and absurd claims Curador was making.