How a ‘NULL’ License Plate Landed One Hacker in Ticket Hell

Joseph Tartaro never meant to cause this much trouble. Especially for himself. In late 2016, Tartaro decided to get a vanity license plate. A security researcher by trade, he ticked down possibilities that related to his work: SEGFAULT, maybe, or something to do with vulnerabilities. Sifting through his options, he started typing “null pointer,” but …