In what has to be one of the more entertaining episodes in the ongoing saga between LulzSec and the rest of the internet, th3j35t3r (The Jester) appears to have successfully social engineered members of LulzSec into revealing information about themselves.

For those not following along, th3j35t3r is a self-proclaimed patriot hacktivist who has been running denial of service attacks against jihadist websites. He has been very vocal about his opposition to LulzSec and Anonymous.

The social engineering angle is what makes this interesting. Instead of trying to hack LulzSec directly (which several people have attempted with mixed results), th3j35t3r reportedly used classic social engineering techniques to get members of the group to inadvertently confirm identities and locations.

This is a perfect example of why social engineering remains the most effective attack vector. You can have the most sophisticated technical defenses in the world, but if someone can manipulate your people into giving up information, none of that matters.

The irony of a group that prides itself on hacking others falling victim to a social engineering attack is not lost on me.