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Bumper Sticker Hacking
Steve Jobs drove his Mercedes without a license plate in a bid to be incognito and flaunt the rules the rest of the world follows. Ironically, the lack of a license plate made his vehicle more visible. If you saw a new silver Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG without tags, you knew there was a chance Jobs was at the wheel.
Objective Personally Identifiable Information
Cars can also identify people with less money and notoriety. For one, your license plate is the personally identifiable information attached to you everywhere you go. Paying a nominal amount of money can get the name of the person who registered the car, the related information on the car and possibly the address of the person.
A criminal can skip that step and look to see where a car is parked to get the address. The address is the critical data value that lets someone easily search property records, often for free and provided by government agencies. The records likely include owner names and house information.
With hardly any effort, the names, house and car of a person is known. One thing leads to another and using the information above can get phone numbers and other items. Using LinkedIn can yield the person’s professional and education history.
- Vehicle
- Home
- Name
- Number
- Work
- Education
Subjective Personally Identifiable Information
An unexpected source of intelligence about a person can come from the bumper stickers and magnets that dot many people’s vehicles. Combining the objective information with the subjective likes, dislikes and quirks of a personality paints a full picture.
Here are a few examples of bumper stickers and the types of conclusions that can be drawn from them:

Image courtesy of Flickr user HELVETIQ
- They like diving and outdoor activities
- They shop local
- They are short
- Favorite brands include Patagonia, Mammut and Apple
- They prefer organic and locally-grown food over McDonald’s
- They are a Democrat

- They are a Democrat
- They enjoy visiting Belize and the Appalachian Mountains
- They are fans of the Washington Nationals
- They prefer reading to watching television
- Fans of dancing and music
Misuse of Information
*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Cipher Blog - English authored by Bill Bowman. Read the original post at: http://blog.cipher.com/bumper-sticker-hacking