Social engineering

1. Social engineering, in the context of security, is understood to mean the art of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. While it is similar to aconfidence trick or simple fraud, it is typically trickery or deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-face with the victims.

1. "Social engineering" as an act of psychological manipulation had previously been associated with the social sciences, but its usage has caught on among computer professionals.

1. Techniques and terms

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1. All social engineering techniques are based on specific attributes of human decision-making known as cognitive biases. These biases, sometimes called "bugs in the human hardware," are exploited in various combinations to create attack techniques, some of which are listed here:

1. 1. Pretexting

1. Pretexting, also known in the UK as blagging or bohoing, is the act of creating and using an invented scenario (the pretext) to engage a targeted victim in a manner that increases the chance the victim will divulge information or perform actions that would be unlikely in ordinary circumstances. An elaborate lie, it most often involves some prior research or setup and the use of this information for impersonation (e.g., date of birth,Social Security Number, last bill amount) to establish legitimacy in the mind of the target.

1. This technique can be used to fool a business into disclosing customer information as well as by private investigators to obtain telephone records, utility records, banking records and other information directly from company service representatives. The information can then be used to establish even greater legitimacy under tougher questioning with a manager, e.g., to make account changes, get specific balances, etc.

1. Pretexting can also be used to impersonate co-workers, police, bank, tax authorities, clergy, insurance investigators — or any other individual who could have perceived authority or right-to-know in the mind of the targeted victim. The pretexter must simply prepare answers to questions that might be asked by the victim. In some cases, all that is needed is a voice that sounds authoritative, an earnest tone, and an ability to think on one's feet.

1. 2. Diversion theft

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1. Diversion theft, also known as the "Corner Game" or "Round the Corner Game", originated in the East End of London.

1. In summary, diversion theft is a "con" exercised by professional thieves, normally against a transport or courier company. The objective is to persuade the persons responsible for a legitimate delivery that the consignment is requested elsewhere — hence, "round the corner".

1. 3. Phishing

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1. Phishing is a technique of fraudulently obtaining private information. Typically, the phisher sends an e-mail that appears to come from a legitimate business—a bank, or cr   card company—requesting "verification" of information and warning of some dire consequence if it is not provided. The e-mail usually contains a link to a fraudulent web page that seems legitimate—with company logos and content—and has a form requesting everything from a home address to an ATM card's PIN.

1. For example, 2003 saw the proliferation of a phishing scam in which users received e-mails supposedly fromeBay claiming that the user's account was about to be suspended unless a link provided was clicked to update a cr   card (information that the genuine eBay already had). Because it is relatively simple to make a Web site resemble a legitimate organization's site by mimicking the HTML code, the scam counted on people being tricked into thinking they were being contacted by eBay and subsequently, were going to eBay's site to update their account information. By spamming large groups of people, the "phisher" counted on the e-mail being read by a percentage of people who already had listed cr   card numbers with eBay legitimately, who might respond.

1. 4. IVR or phone phishing

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1. This technique uses a rogue interactive voice response (IVR) system to recreate a legitimate-sounding copy of a bank or other institution's IVR system. The victim is prompted (typically via a phishing e-mail) to call in to the "bank" via a (ideally toll free) number provided in order to "verify" information. A typical system will reject log-ins continually, ensuring the victim enters PINs or passwords multiple times, often disclosing several different passwords. More advanced systems transfer the victim to the attacker posing as a customer service agent for further questioning.

1. One could even record the typical commands ("Press one to change your password, press two to speak to customer service" ...) and play back the direction manually in real time, giving the appearance of being an IVR without the expense.

1. Phone phishing is also called vishing.

1. 5. Baiting

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1. Baiting is like the real-world Trojan Horse that uses physical media and relies on the curiosity or greed of the victim.

1. In this attack, the attacker leaves a malware infected floppy disk, CD ROM, or USB flash drive in a location sure to be found (bathroom, elevator, sidewalk, parking lot), gives it a legitimate looking and curiosity-piquing label, and simply waits for the victim to use the device.

1. For example, an attacker might create a disk featuring a corporate logo, readily available from the target's web site, and write "Executive Salary Summary Q2 2012" on the front. The attacker would then leave the disk on the floor of an elevator or somewhere in the lobby of the targeted company. An unknowing employee might find it and subsequently insert the disk into a computer to satisfy their curiosity, or a good Samaritan might find it and turn it in to the company.

1. In either case, as a consequence of merely inserting the disk into a computer to see the contents, the user would unknowingly install malware on it, likely giving an attacker unfettered access to the victim's PC and, perhaps, the targeted company's internal computer network.

1. Unless computer controls block the infection, PCs set to "auto-run" inserted media may be compromised as soon as a rogue disk is inserted.

1. Hostile devices, more attractive than simple memory, can also be used. For instance, a "lucky winner" is sent a free digital audio player that actually compromises any computer it is plugged to. Technology security company HBGary has sold such devices to the US government.

1. 6. Quid pro quo

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1. Quid pro quo means something for something:

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1. • An attacker calls random numbers at a company, claiming to be calling back from technical support. Eventually this person will hit someone with a legitimate problem, grateful that someone is calling back to help them. The attacker will "help" solve the problem and, in the process, have the user type commands that give the attacker access or launch malware.

1. • In a 2003 information security survey, 90% of office workers gave researchers what they claimed was theirpassword in answer to a survey question in exchange for a cheap pen. Similar surveys in later years obtained similar results using chocolates and other cheap lures, although they made no attempt to validate the passwords.

1. 7. Tailgating

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1. An attacker, seeking entry to a restricted area secured by unattended, electronic access control, e.g. by RFIDcard, simply walks in behind a person who has legitimate access. Following common courtesy, the legitimate person will usually hold the door open for the attacker. The legitimate person may fail to ask for identification for any of several reasons, or may accept an assertion that the attacker has forgotten or lost the appropriate identity token. The attacker may also fake the action of presenting an identity token.

1. Other types

1. Common confidence tricksters or fraudsters also could be considered "social engineers" in the wider sense, in that they deliberately deceive and manipulate people, exploiting human weaknesses to obtain personal benefit. They may, for example, use social engineering techniques as part of an IT fraud.

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1. A very recent type of social engineering technique includes spoofing or cracking IDs of people having popular e-mail IDs such as Yahoo!, GMail, Hotmail, etc. Among the many motivations for deception are:

Phishing cr  -card account numbers and their passwords.
Cracking private e-mails and chat histories, and manipulating them by using common   ing techniques before using them to extort money and creating distrust among individuals.
Cracking websites of companies or organizations and destroying their reputation.
Computer virus hoaxes

Countermeasures

1. Organizations must, on an employee/personnel level, establish frameworks of trust. (i.e., When/Where/Why/How should sensitive information be handled?)
2. Organizations must identify which information is sensitive and question its integrity in all forms. (i.e., Social Engineering, Building Security, Computer Security, etc.)
3. Organizations must establish security protocols for the people who handle sensitive information. (i.e., Paper-Trails for information disclosure and/or forensic crumbs)
4. Employees must be trained in security protocols relevant to their position. (e.g., employees must identify people who steer towards sensitive information.) (also: In situations such as tailgating, if a person's identity cannot be verified, then employees must be trained to politely refuse.)
5. An Organization's framework must be tested periodically, and these tests must be unannounced.
6. Insert a critical eye into any of the above steps: there is no perfect solution for information integrity.
7. Dumpster Security by using a waste management service that has dumpsters with locks on them, with keys to them limited only to the waste management company and the cleaning staff. Also making sure the dumpster is located in a place where it is not out of view, and trying to access it will carry a risk to being seen or caught or behind a locked gate or fence where the person must trespass before they can attempt to access the dumpster.

To see more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering

http://www.social-engineer.org/

http://www.csoonline.com/article/514063/social-engineering-the-basics

group names:
Maryam Alhajji
Khlood Alharbi
Aml Alhosain
Batool Alshikh
Aishah Aljhani