With an SXSW event coming up, the personal online security company Aura wanted to make some waves at the event. Their idea? Hack billionaire Jeffrey Katzenberg. Yes, that Jeffrey Katzenberg, the cofounder of Dreamworks.
To do it, they enlisted the help of white hat hacker Rachel Tobac and her hacker husband and partner Evan, ethical hackers who were only too glad to show Jeffrey just how vulnerable people really are in the digital world. For his part, Katzenberg was confident about both his security and lack of personal data online. But he quickly found out that not only was he vulnerable, but vulnerable in ways he didn’t even realize. It was the perfect setup for the company to talk about online security, hacking, and the need for increased protection in our modern digital age.
Our job at BX was to plan, produce, shoot, and edit the whole thing. To make sure everything went off without a hitch, this project demanded some extra planning and pre-production. From making sure we knew exactly how the Tobacs would pull off the hack, to arranging everything around Jeffrey Katzenberg’s schedule and multiple shoot locations, this was a demanding shoot. But of course, like always, our incredible crew pulled it off and made it look downright easy in the process.
As for Jeffrey Katzenberg, we can now personally vouch that he’s one rad dude. Easy to work with and comfortable on set (we get the sense that he’s familiar with the industry), he maintained his cool even while being digitally attacked. And if you need an ethical hacker or want to increase your own organization’s security, look no further than Rachel Tobac, founder of SocialProof Security.
Not only was the panel at SXSW a success, but the hacking was reported across multiple new outlets, including TMZ and The Washington Post.
Fun fact: even George Clooney weighed in, texting Jeffrey personally to let him know that he loved it. Thanks George!
