A MORNING WITH THE TEQUILA NINJA
Back in the mid-2010s, there was a local story about a kid (unnamed, because he was a juvenile) who was clever enough to bust into Mammoth High School’s computer system so he could change the grades of some of his friends.
He did it, he says, on a lark. Because he could.
Alas, he wasn’t clever enough (then anyway) to cover his tracks.
He ended up finishing high school at the alternative (Jan Work) school, testing out early.
He then moved onto Cerro Coso, seeking an associates degree in computer science. But it didn’t grab him. “I didn’t take it seriously. I wasn’t being challenged,” James Brock Doll told me as we drank our coffees at the local Starbucks.
That’s when a friend recommended the name of a military recruiter.
And James soon found himself at Fort Gordon, Georgia, at the Cyber Center of Excellence as part of the U.S. Army Signal Regiment.
Once he finished his training, he was stationed in South Korea, serving as a team leader in network operations.
He’s finished his service and is back in town. He mostly works remotely in cybersecurity – his business is called Wild West Cybersecurity.
Among his clients are NASA and large S&P 500 companies.
His job is fascinating in that he’s essentially being paid to do what he did at 14 – the same thing, mind you, which got him tossed out of high school.
His job is to hack into systems and then inform the people he hacked of their weaknesses.
And they pay you for that.
The size of the bounty is determined by the complexity and critical nature of the weakness exposed.
He is currently ranked #85 on the HackerOne leaderboard. His handle: tequila_ninja.
“I’ve always wanted to be a good guy,” Doll told me during our visit, as he tried gamely to dumb it down for me.
I asked him what type of computer he needed for his work, figuring it had be something new and powerful.
“You can use any computer,” said Doll. “It’s more about your experience, your gut … knowing how a system works more than the other guy. Systems are simply lines of code. Computers do what they’re told. You change the order of that code, you can break the system.”
But to answer the question, he’s got an upgraded five-year old MSI.
Sheet: Are Apple computers safer than PCs? That’s what I’ve been told.
Doll: Apple computers safety is a total myth. But Apple pays millions of dollars for their bounties, so good luck.
Sheet: How safe are election systems?
Doll: Election systems are not connected to the internet, so …
I asked Doll how he got started in computers. Was there someone who showed him how to get started? Did he have a mentor?
When I was about 10 or 11 years old, he said, I found some hacker tools online and started letting ‘em rip. It was like learning a new language, he explained. Trial and error.
Newbies, explained Doll, are described as “script kiddies.” Defined as “a person who uses existing computer scripts or code to hack into computers, lacking the expertise to write their own.”
These days, Doll is a “1337” – slang for elite hacker – who writes his own scripts.
Doll is of Native American and Yugoslavian descent.
He left the Army to care for his mother, who lives in Mammoth and struggles with M.S.
His stepfather, Micah Barlow, died in March, 2023.
I asked Doll what it’s like to be back home, and about the demands of his job.
The tough part for a guy like James is … his brain is a blessing and a curse.
He’s an absolute unicorn. His brain simply operates at a whole different capacity and frequency. He can stare at a screen for ten hours a day and solve riddles that you and I cannot.
But by the same token, when you have a brain like that, it’s almost impossible to calm it, quiet it, shut it down. He’s almost apologetic as he talks about what he subjects his mother to in the mornings. “I talk my mom’s head off,” he says with a chuckle.
He says his vice is marijuana. That’s the one thing that seems to settle the brain. In Korea, they’re big drinkers. He found that didn’t suit him.
He’d consider going back to work for the government, but only if marijuana is legalized federally.
If not, he’ll stay on the outside thank you very much.
As to hobbies, he’s into skateboarding, fishing and even just driving around.
The fishing, though, brings up a certain amount of heartache. That’s what he used to do with his stepdad.
One of his other inspirations: the Native American author Sherman Alexie.
While Doll doesn’t do a lot of local work, he was pleased to be able to help a woman who has a virtual fitness business. A male hacker began accessing her feed/harassing her during her appointments. Doll subsequently came in and set up a system to hack-proof her virtual appointments.
If you’ve got a cybersecurity issue, you can contact James @ 760.965.0090/ jdoll@wildwestcyber.com.
