why social engineering an important part of an information technology security course

The only important part social engineering plays is that it creates a sense of security in the cyber world, otherwise it has only a negative part to play, as these attacks cannot be eliminated because of unpredicted innovations in the cyber world but they can surely be mitigated by being aware. Laws governing social engineering attacks

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What is social engineering?

What is Social Engineering ? Social engineering is the tactic of manipulating, influencing, or deceiving a victim in order to gain control over a computer system, or to steal personal and financial information.  It uses psychological manipulation to trick users into making security mistakes or giving away sensitive information.

What is social engineering in cyber security?

In the cyber world social engineering is a technique or art to manipulate any person to give up his/her personal information such as any access to a system, bank accounts or any other valuables.

What do computer technicians need to know about social engineering?

If computer technicians are to properly secure a computer system or network, they must know about social engineering and how to mitigate the attacks. What is Social Engineering? Social engineering is the process of gaining information through human, interpersonal, behavioral, and psychological means.

What is a social engineering attack?

It uses psychological manipulation to trick users into making security mistakes or giving away sensitive information. Social engineering attacks happen in one or more steps.

Why is social engineering training important?

Importance of Social Engineering Training Social engineering is a difficult cybersecurity threat to protect against because the tactics that attackers use prey on an individuals' reasoning. When employees haven't been trained to recognize social engineering attacks, the risk of falling victim rises.

What is social engineering in information technology?

Social Engineering is a technique used to deceive a targeted end user into giving up sensitive information that can be used in infrastructure recognizance, criminal activity or to gain access to sensitive institutional data containing personally-identifiable information commonly referred to as PII.

What is social engineering Why is it an increasingly important threat?

As an article for Imperva3 explains, social engineering refers to a range of cyber threats which use "psychological manipulation to trick users into making security mistakes or giving away sensitive information." Effectively, it involves those with malicious intent capitalising on people's emotional responses, good ...

What is social engineering in a cyber security context?

In the context of cybersecurity, social engineering describes a type of attack in which the attacker exploit human vulnerabilities (by means such as influence, persuasion, deception, manipulation and inducing) to breach the security goals (such as confidentiality, integrity, availability, controllability and ...

What type of information is usually gathered by social engineering?

All sorts of pertinent information and records is gathered using this scam, such as social security numbers, personal addresses and phone numbers, phone records, staff vacation dates, bank records and even security information related to a physical plant.

What are the three methods used in social engineering to gain access to information?

Three Types of Social Engineering Attacks to Know1) ONLINE AND PHONE. Phishing scams and smishing (fake SMS/text messages) are trick users online and over the phone into giving up sensitive information or money. ... 2) HUMAN INTERACTION. ... 3) PASSIVE ATTACKS. ... YOUR BEST DEFENSE.

Why is social engineering one of the greatest cyber security threats we face today?

Social engineering is recognized as one of the greatest security threats facing organizations. It is extremely effective because the attacks are persuasive and very deceptive.

Is social engineering a cybersecurity threat?

Social engineering is a manipulation technique that exploits human error to gain private information, access, or valuables. In cybercrime, these “human hacking” scams tend to lure unsuspecting users into exposing data, spreading malware infections, or giving access to restricted systems.

What is social engineering how it affects an organization?

Social engineering is a method of hacking that focuses on attacking the human element of a system. While technology changes and grows, human nature reliably stays the same. For this reason, more and more hackers target the human part of the equation in a company's security rather than the systems themselves.

Why do hackers use social engineering?

Social engineering is a popular tactic among attackers because it is often easier to exploit people than it is to find a network or software vulnerability. Hackers will often use social engineering tactics as a first step in a larger campaign to infiltrate a system or network and steal sensitive data or disperse ...

What is online social engineering with respect to online safety and security?

When talking about online safety and security, 'social engineering' means the act of manipulating or tricking people into certain actions including divulging personal or financial information … a kind of confidence trick.

What are the key factors that make social engineering successful?

The three common psychological traits that help social engineers succeed are:Our desire to be helpful.Our tendency to trust people we don't know.Our fear of getting into trouble.

What is Social Engineering?

Social Engineering (SE) is is basically hacking the human element in an organization, tricking the victim into giving the attacker sensitive information about the target. Attacking the human allows an attacker to bypass the physical (security guards, door locks, cameras, etc.) and technical controls (firewalls, IDS / IPS, antivirus, etc.) to gain information that can be used later to defeat those controls.

How to mitigate SE attacks?

The key to mitigating SE attacks is threefold, training, communication and testing. Train your employees, users, etc. on how to spot a potential SE attack. Give them clear communications channels to test their suspicions (if someone claims to need sensitive information on behalf of the CEO, give them a clear path to the CEO or a known representative of the CEO to verify the request). Test the organization regularly with SE based attacks like phishing and vishing campaigns to verify that everyone knows and is following policy and use failures as a training tool so that they aren’t repeated in an actual attack.

Why are identities used for spam?

That's because identities—account usernames and passwords—are only as good as the information they store or have access to, and most malicious hackers are looking for targets with valuable information they can use, exploit, or sell.

Why are security questions so easy to defeat?

Safeguard even inconsequential information about yourself. Security questions in particular are usually easy to defeat because they're systemically flawed. Users will want to pick questions that are easy to remember answers to, but that usually means they pick the questions easiest for an intruder to decipher, like "Where were you born?" or "What city did you go to high school in?" If you have to use security questions, be very careful with the information they request, and use the most obscure, nuanced questions available. You can always make a secure note in your password manager or an encrypted text file with the answers if you're afraid you'll forget them.

What is social engineering?

Strictly, social engineering is a technique to get around security systems—or any type of system—not by breaking through it or exploiting vulnerabilities in the system itself, but to exploit vulnerabilities in the humans around the system. Instead of breaking in or cracking a password, you convince a tech support agent to reset ...

Why is it important to select a high value target and using more advanced methods to get their data?

Selecting a high-value target and using more advanced methods to get their data is a better use of an intruder's time. Given how well it works and how easy it is, that makes us all targets. The illusion that the average joe "doesn't have anything valuable" quickly diminishes as it gets easier and easier to use automated tools and social engineering to get access to your data.

Do we know the basics of passwords?

We all know the basics— strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and so on. However, the most recent security and privacy breaches have had less to do with bad passwords and more to do with social engineering. Let's look at what that is, why it can happen without you knowing, and how you can protect yourself.

Can you give out confidential information on Facebook?

Obviously, never give out confidential information. We went into this in detail in our old guide to social engineering attacks. While that post focused on protecting yourself from being engineered, it applies here too. A malicious hacker is less likely these days to pose as a friend of yours on Facebook (although honestly, you really shouldn't friend anyone who sends you a request) or call you pretending to be from your bank, but that doesn't mean you can toss around information they could intercept and use to call your bank pretending to be you.

Is social engineering the only way to do it?

Most people think that social engineering involves engineering the target, and convincing them to give up useful information. That's one way to do it, but it's not the only way. In fact, the most successful methods involve never letting your target know until it's too late.

How long does it take to get past spam filters?

In truth, a well trained attacker can get past 9/10 antivirus solutions within 15 minutes. Additionally, spam filters are typically set up to protect against an email that is going to a large number of employees. An attacker who is specifically targeting your organization may send a spear phish email that will go to a single user, bypassing most traditional spam filters. Finally, even if you do feel these protections are sufficient, it is important to test the efficacy of your security controls. Just like you test your firewall to make sure it is working properly during an external penetration test, you should test your antivirus and spam solutions during a social engineering engagement.

What are the gaps in information security?

One of the biggest gaps I see in information security is that organization’s spend the majority of their budget on securing the perimeter of their network, and fail to consider the impact of social engineering. Think about it, how much has your organization spent on a firewall? Do you have an IPS? How about a DLP monitor? Does your organization regularly perform external vulnerability scans or penetration tests? Don’t get me wrong, these are all great things, and important to securing your network from an outside attacker. However, the attacker who wants to break into your network is not dumb. An attacker is going to go after the low hanging fruit, which are the employees most of the time. It is no wonder then that almost half of all data breaches happen as a result of social engineering according to the 2017 Verizon DBIR. With a single click, an attacker has effectively bypassed the majority of the security protections you have in place, and now it is just a matter of elevating permissions and finding the sensitive data. That is why it is so important to test your organization through a social engineering engagement.

How much does social engineering cost?

In our base social engineering assessment, we will use phone-based social engineering for 5 employees, do targeting spear phishing for 5 employees, and then send a bulk phishing campaign to 25 users. The base cost for a social engineering assessment is ~$4,500. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to discuss more or get a customized quote for this.

Who is Matt from Triaxiom?

Matt is a principal security engineer at Triaxiom Security. He currently has his PCI QSA, CISSP, OSCP, C|EH, GSEC, GCIH, and CISA certifications. Matt can be found on twitter @InfoSecMatthew.

What is Social Engineering?

Social engineering is the process of gaining information through human, interpersonal, behavioral, and psychological means. There are two classifications of social engineering: technology based and human based. Technology based social engineering is when a user is deceived via a computer or device, usually through software, into believing something is real when it is not. Human based social engineering is when people are deceived or coerced by human interaction. Human based attackers normally impersonate a legitimate role to gain access to information; for example by impersonating an IT support technician, an attacker may easily be able to get past the front desk of an office and even gain access to the server room.

What is computer technician?

Computer technicians know all too well of the security threats in the cyber world. Virus and malware removal is usually on the most in-demand services for computer repair businesses, especially companies that service residential PC’s. Technicians who service small businesses know the importance of securing networks, configuring firewalls, spam filters, frequent software patches, and virus definition updates in order to keep the vulnerabilities of the computing environment at a minimum.

How much does employee dishonesty cost a business?

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, employee dishonesty costs American business in excess of $50 billion annually.

What is information gathering?

INFORMATION GATHERING: Doing your homework! Researching as much about the mark as possible in order to become as believable as possible.

How many employees steal from their companies?

Another statistic from employeetheftsolutions.com states that 75% of employees steal from their companies and lists the top 10 most important things to employees, showing what they may be disgruntled about.

What is technology based social engineering?

Technology based social engineering is when a user is deceived via a computer or device, usually through software, into believing something is real when it is not. Human based social engineering is when people are deceived or coerced by human interaction. Human based attackers normally impersonate a legitimate role to gain access to information;

How can education help in social engineering?

Education is the number one tool for fighting social engineering attacks. People need to be aware of the threats if they are using the technology or are in a position where they need to protect private information (this doesn’t mean they are a security guard, it could even be a receptionist, or a regular home user). Many times storytelling and/or showing videos of social engineering tactics in action, both human-based and technology-based, are very effective.

How does social engineering in cyber security work?

Typically, cybercriminals use social engineering to trick their victims into believing they are acting on behalf of a trusted organization. In some instances, they will even act like a person the victim knows.

Why is social engineering so dangerous?

Even one deceived victim can provide sufficient information to launch an attack that can impact an entire organization.

How to protect your business from social engineering?

Even the best security systems are vulnerable to psychological attacks. Nevertheless, companies can minimize the risks of social engineering with awareness training.

What is phishing attack?

Under this type, an attacker can influence the user to share his personal data and pretend as if it is a trusted person or institution. These attacks generally take place through links or attachments of e-mail. There are various types of phishing such as:

Why conduct cyber security mock drills?

Conducting cyber security mock drills and exercises regularly to enable assessment of cyber security posture and preparedness of organizations in Government and critical sectors.

How does malware work?

Generally a malware is sent by an attacker to the target user. One of the methods of baiting is the distribution of infected devices such as leaving USBs at public places, such as libraries or parking lots. Another method is sending emails containing details of free content.

How does an attacker attack a website?

The attacker sends compromised links through email, social media messages or online ads and influences people to access such websites.

What is Section 4 of IPC?

In the same paraphernalia, Section 4 of IPC also mandates extra territorial operation of IPC and specifically covers any act of a person, who is outside India, targets any computer resource in India. This aspect also covers social engineering attacks.

What is the extra territorial operation of the Information Technology Act 2000?

It is pertinent to mention that Section 75 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 is concerned with extra territorial operation of the Act because it says any computer, computer system or computer network source is located in India and is used for offences outside India then such person, irrespective of its nationality, shall be liable under IT Act, 2000 for contravention of its provision. This simply means if any person hacks a computer source and uses it for wrongful gains or wrongful loss to any person then such person shall be liable in India. In the same paraphernalia, Section 4 of IPC also mandates extra territorial operation of IPC and specifically covers any act of a person, who is outside India, targets any computer resource in India. This aspect also covers social engineering attacks. Provisions under IPC such as Section 417 to Section 420 for cheating and Section 465 to Section 477A for forgery and provisions under IT Act have different penalties for different offences with minimum penalty of three months and maximum penalty of life imprisonment under various sections of both the laws.

What are the common factors in social engineering?

In all the types of social engineering attacks, one common factor is deception to gain property or infiltration. These types are basically methods of cyber deception and for these deception practices various fake documents are also used such as bonds, agreements, Trademarks of established brands etc along with impersonation of identity. Forging of documents attracts the penal provision which is defined under Section 463 of IPC, it says preparation of false documents which shall include electronic records with intent to commit fraud to any person or public at large to cause any damage or injury, frauds such as claiming title or support any claim or cause any person to part with property or to enter into any express or implied contracts are covered by the definition.