Ryan Montgomery
Security researcher and penetration testing expert, CTO of the Sentinel Foundation and founder of pentester.com. He focuses on using OSINT techniques to combat online sexual exploitation, working with law enforcement agencies and NGOs.
Timeline (last 90 days)
In a DEF CON interview, Ryan Montgomery used AI-generated photos of children to register accounts on an anonymous dating app, with no email verification and no age verification at any point.
Within minutes of Montgomery registering the account, a user 78 feet away from them sent private photos.
Montgomery is the CTO of the Sentinel Foundation and the founder of pentester.com.
When Montgomery was nine, his grandfather brought home a desktop computer with a floppy drive, and an AOL trial disc made him realize for the first time the connection between the physical world and the digital world.
Montgomery found a backdoor in a forum's old ZenForo theme and exported the entire database, but deliberately did not download the media files, keeping only the text records.
Montgomery contacted law enforcement and the media to report the evidence, but not a single media outlet was willing to cover it, and law enforcement did not respond either.
Montgomery voluntarily gave up providing OSINT support to vigilante predator-catching teams, for reasons including evidence chain contamination and the legal risks of vigilante activity itself.
Montgomery said that the researchers who currently truly have cybersecurity skills and work in this field can be counted on two hands.
All Facts (8)
Montgomery is the CTO of the Sentinel Foundation and the founder of pentester.com.
50%UnverifiedWhen Montgomery was nine, his grandfather brought home a desktop computer with a floppy drive, and an AOL trial disc made him realize for the first time the connection between the physical world and the digital world.
50%UnverifiedMontgomery voluntarily gave up providing OSINT support to vigilante predator-catching teams, for reasons including evidence chain contamination and the legal risks of vigilante activity itself.
50%UnverifiedMontgomery said that the researchers who currently truly have cybersecurity skills and work in this field can be counted on two hands.
50%UnverifiedMontgomery found a backdoor in a forum's old ZenForo theme and exported the entire database, but deliberately did not download the media files, keeping only the text records.
50%UnverifiedWithin minutes of Montgomery registering the account, a user 78 feet away from them sent private photos.
50%UnverifiedIn a DEF CON interview, Ryan Montgomery used AI-generated photos of children to register accounts on an anonymous dating app, with no email verification and no age verification at any point.
50%UnverifiedMontgomery contacted law enforcement and the media to report the evidence, but not a single media outlet was willing to cover it, and law enforcement did not respond either.
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