As Web security has evolved it has gotten easier to lock your systems down. many products come out of the box pre-configured to include decent security practices, as well as most of the prominent on the internet services have wised up about encryption as well as password storage. That’s not to state that things are perfect, however as the computer systems get tougher to crack, the poor guys will focus more on the unpatchable system in the mix — the human element.
Η ιστορία επαναλαμβάνεται
Ever since the days of the ancient Greeks, as well as most likely before that, social engineering has been one choice to get around your enemy’s defences. all of us understand the old tale of Ulysses utilizing a giant wooden equine to technique the Trojans into enabling a little army into the city of Troy. They left the equine outside the city walls after a failed five-year siege, as well as the Trojans brought it in. when inside the city walls a little army climbed out in the dead of night as well as caught the city.
How different is it to leave a USB flash drive packed with malware around a big company’s vehicle park, waiting on human curiosity to take over as well as an worker to plug the gadget into a computer hooked as much as the business network? Both the wooden equine as well as the USB drive technique have one thing in common, humans are not perfect as well as make decisions which can be irrational.
Famous Social Engineers
[Victor Lustig] was one of history’s famous social engineers specializing in scams, as well as was a self-confessed con man. He is most famous for having offered the Eiffel Tower. After the very first world War, money was tight, as well as France was having a hard time to pay for the upkeep of Eiffel Tower as well as it was falling into disrepair. After reading about the tower’s troubles, [Lustig] came up with his scheme: he would technique people into believing that the tower was to be offered off as scrap as well as that he was the facilitator for any type of deal. utilizing forged government stationary, he handled to pull this technique off: twice!
He later went on to scam [Al Capone] out of $5,000 by convincing him to invest $50,000 into a stock market deal. He declared the offer fell through, although in truth there was no deal. After a few months, he provided Capone his money back, as well as was rewarded with $5,000 for his “integrity”.
[Charles Ponzi] was so notorious the plan he utilized which is to life as well as well today was named after him. A Ponzi plan is a pyramid investment scam utilizing new members money to pay older investors. As long as new recruits keep coming in, the people at the top of the pyramid get paid. When the pool of new suckers dries up, it’s over.
The biggest Ponzi plan ever was found by then-respected high flyer as well as stock market speculator [Bernard Madoff]. The scheme, valued at around $65 billion, was as well as still is the biggest in history. Madoff was so prolific he had banks, governments as well as pension funds invested into his scheme.
[Kevin Mitnick] is most likely the most famous computer hacker still to life today, nevertheless he was more of a social engineer than you would think. Kevin started young; at thirteen, he persuaded a bus driver to tell him where to buy a ticket puncher for a institution project, when in truth it would be utilized with dumpster dived tickets discovered in the bins of the bus company’s depot.
At sixteen, he hacked digital devices Corporation’s computer systems, copying proprietary software application as well as then going on to hack Pacific Bell’s voice mail computers together with lots of other systems. He was on the run for a few years as well as was ultimately imprisoned for his crimes. Out of jail, he has turned into a security consultant as well as does well for himself by staying on the correct side of the law.
[John Draper], aka Captain Crunch, was a pioneer in the phone phreaking world. He gained his moniker since of free whistles provided away in bundles of Cap’n crunch cereal. He realized that these whistles played 2,600 Hz which just occurred to be the precise tone that AT&T long distance lines utilized to suggest that a trunk line was prepared as well as offered to path a new call. This influenced [John Draper] to experiment with as well as effectively develop blue boxes. Those days are gone now, as the phone system changed from analog to digital.
Types Of Social engineering Scams as well as exactly how To prevent Them
There are many different type of social engineering attacks — picture counting up the number of methods that exist to technique people. Still, it’s worth comprehending the most prominent scams, since you do requirement to protect yourself.
Pretexting
This type of scam includes telling somebody a lie in order to gain gain access to to privileged areas or information. Pretexting is frequently performed in the type ofphone scams where a caller will insurance claim to work for some huge business as well as needs to verify their targets identity. They then go on to gather info like social security numbers, mother’s maiden name, account details as well as dates of birth. since the phone call or the circumstance is normally initiated by the social engineer, a great method to protect your self from this scam is to phone call back or verify who they state they are — utilizing info that you gathered about the company, as well as not provided by them.
Baiting
Dropping malware-filled USB drives around car parking lots, or giant wooden horses near your enemy’s walls, is traditional baiting. This is a simple assault with a simple mitigation: keep in mind that if something free as well as fascinating just lying around looks as well great to be true, then it most likely is.
Phishing
Phishing is the method of sending out e-mails, posing as a widely known web service or company, as well as aiming to get the recipient to open a compromised document, go to a poisoned website, or otherwise break your own security. A few weeks ago, Hackaday’s own [Pedro Umbelino] composed about exactly how simple it is to exploit even the most security mindful around us (it had me) with an IDN homograph attack.
Most phishing is done at a less advanced level — normally a clone of website is made as well as emails are sent out telling victims to modification their password. High value targets may have a completely personalized phishing experience, understood as “spear phishing”, where the scammer will put more effort into a site clone or email text by including personal info to make it look more authentic. Phishing is normally simple to area — inspect the address of any type of link before clicking on it. as well as if you’re asked to modification a password with an e-mail, close the e-mail as well as log into the web site with typical means, bypassing the poor links entirely.
Ransomware
A great deal of ransomware is provided by phishing, however since there have been an increasing number of extensive cases, it gets its own topic. nevertheless the individual is fooled into running the malware on their computer, it encrypts valuable data or locks the individual out of their system as well as demands repayment to bring back things back to normal. Whether this occurs or not, upon payment, is anyone’s guess.
There have been a number of extremely high profile ransomware attacks lately, including ransomware crippling UK’s NHS as well as then spreading globally. will this ever end? The simplest mitigation strategy against ransomware, in addition to no clicking on suspicious links, applications or keeping your system as much as date in the very first place, is to keep regular backups of your system to ensure that if you do get ransomed, you won’t have to pay. keeping backups has other benefits as well, of course.
Αντάλλαγμα
The quid pro quo scam is truly all “quid” as well as no “quo”. A service service provider phone calls offering to repair a bug or eliminate malware (that doesn’t exist) for a fee. A quick browse on YouTube will turn up countless videos of scammers trying their luck with wise-cracking teenagers. just like many cons, this scam can be avoided by just not responding to out-of-the-blue offers. On the other hand, this scam seems successful sufficient that it’s still being run. understanding about it is the very best defense.
Tailgating
One method to get into a restricted area that’s secured by a closed door is to wait on an worker or somebody with gain access to as well as comply with them in. These attacks are normally aimed at businesses or apartment buildings, as well as the solution is to just not let anyone get in with you.
Dumpster Diving
To impersonate a legitimate contractor, it assists to understand the names of the firms included as well as even points of get in touch with inside the firm. all of this data as well as more can be discovered on receipts in the dumpster behind the firm. invest in a shredder, as well as don’t leave anything to chance.
Μεσα ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΚΗΣ ΔΙΚΤΥΩΣΗΣ
People share an fantastic amount of personal info on social media, so it’s no surprise that it’s a new tool for social engineers. Looking with someone’s account is like looking at a snapshot of someones life. Why would you reveal your house is going to be empty to for the next two weeks to actually the whole world? Your house is just asking to be burgled. Or believe of the ammunition that you’re providing to a would-be spear phisher. believe about the trade-offs of sharing personal info about yourself publicly.
Notable Social engineering situation Studies
Now, let’s see a couple examples of these social engineering techniques in the wild.
News worldwide Phone Hacking Scandal
Here in the UK, there was a big public storm when news International, had by media mogul [Rupert Murdoch], was discovered to be utilizing social engineering to “hack” into the voicemail services of prΕξειδικευμένες διασημότητες, πολιτικοί, βασιλικοί, καθώς και δημοσιογράφοι. Η λίστα τηλεφώνου hacking είναι εξαιρετικά μεγάλη. Συχνά hacked στο φωνητικό ταχυδρομείο με το spoofing το αναγνωριστικό καλούντος που χορήγησε πρόσβαση αποκτήσεων στο τηλεφωνικό ταχυδρομείο του τηλεφώνου. Ορισμένοι φωνητικοί φίλοι ήταν ασφαλισμένοι με τετραψήφιους κώδικες που ενταχθούν γρήγορα. Σε άλλες περιπτώσεις, κάλεσαν μόνο την υπηρεσία τηλεφωνικής παροχής υπηρεσίας, καθώς και δήλωσε ότι απέτυχαν να θυμηθούν τον κωδικό πρόσβασής τους – Plain-Vanilla prextexting.
Celebgate iCloud γυμνές φωτογραφίες “hack”
[Ryan Collins] Χρησιμοποιούμενες μεθόδους phishing για να αποκτήσετε πρόσβαση σε αποκτήσεις στους λογαριασμούς Icloud της Lawrence Jennifer, Kate Upton, καθώς και Kim Kardashian. Παράγει ψεύτικες ειδοποιήσεις από την Google, καθώς και η Apple, καθώς τα έστειλαν στις διευθύνσεις ηλεκτρονικού ταχυδρομείου των στόχων του. Την εποχή εκείνη, υπήρχε εικασία που ο Icloud της Apple είχε χάσει σε τεράστια κλίμακα. Αντίθετα, οι Collins παραδέχθηκαν σε συνέντευξή του ότι χρησιμοποίησε μεθόδους ηλεκτρονικού “ψαρέματος” για να αποκτήσει πρόσβαση στα θύματα των θυμάτων του.
Πού πάμε από εδώ
Εάν το σπάσιμο του συστήματος του υπολογιστή είναι τόσο δύσκολο, μπορείτε να είστε βέβαιοι ότι οι εγκληματίες θα προσπαθήσουν να σπάσουν το ανθρώπινο σύστημα. Είτε τηλεφωνείτε αυτή την “κοινωνική μηχανική”, “μειονεκτήματα”, ή “απάτες”, είναι πιθανό να αυξήσουν. Η καλύτερη μέθοδος για την προστασία του εαυτού σας είναι να διδάξετε σε οποιονδήποτε να αποκτήσετε πρόσβαση σε δεδομένα ή λεπτομέρειες σχετικά με ακριβώς πώς οι επιθέσεις λειτουργούν, καθώς και ακριβώς πώς να τους αποτρέψετε.
Υπάρχουν πολλοί πόροι στο διαδίκτυο που θα ήταν χρήσιμο για να βοηθήσετε να προστατεύσετε τον εαυτό σας από αυτούς τους φορείς επίθεσης. Προστατέψτε τον εαυτό σας από οκτώ επιθέσεις κοινωνικής μηχανικής είναι μάλλον ένα εξαιρετικό σημείο εκκίνησης, καθώς και το αμερικανικό τμήμα της πατρίδας ασφαλείας παρέχει επίσης φανταστικές πληροφορίες για την πρόληψη των ατόμων κοινωνικής μηχανικής που μπορείτε να επισημάνετε τους ανθρώπους.
Στο τέλος, το μεγαλύτερο μέρος του βράζει για να αναγνωρίσει τα πρότυπα καθώς και να είναι σκεπτικιστικά όταν τα βλέπετε. Επιβεβαίωση πληροφοριών με άλλα κανάλια, μην κάντε τυφλά κλικ συνδέσμοι, καθώς και να είστε επιφυλακτικοί για τα προσωπικά στοιχεία που παρέχετε στους δικηγόρους.