Social-Engineer Newsletter Vol 06 – Issue 84
Back to School Security
Back-to-school time can mean a lot of things — a new backpack, a teary sendoff at the bus stop, or spending way too much on textbooks. But here at Social-Engineer.org, back-to-school means refreshing security awareness for students.
There are plenty of reasons students could be targeted for social engineering attacks. Attackers might try to get information about the…
Social-Engineer Newsletter Vol 06 – Issue 80
Spear Phishing: On the Rise and How to Protect Yourself and Your Organization
Have you heard of spear phishing? It’s likely, since spear phishing has become one of the most common sources of company breaches, as evidenced by a mountain of reports from this year alone.
In case you missed it: A method of using social engineering, spear phishing aims to obtain information through personalized…
Social-Engineer Newsletter Vol 06 – Issue 79
Playing Well With Others: Human Interaction 101 — “The Bump”
Are you a social engineer? Regardless of your profession, the answer is yes! Because we are social creatures living and interacting with others, chances are that you will engage in a number of activities that in one way or another facilitates your existence within human society. Even those of us who prefer the relative interpersonal…
Social-Engineer Newsletter – Vol 06 Issue 77
Manufacturing Emotion — Using Emotional Connections in Elicitation
Picture it. A serene afternoon, warm with sunshine, a gentle breeze blowing, children laughing. Feels nice, doesn’t it? You can almost feel yourself smiling. What emotions happen during that little sentence? It’s amazing that words can cause us to feel a certain way, to change belief or express something which is important.…
Social-Engineer Newsletter – Vol 06 Issue 76
Phishing, Vishing & SMiShing, Oh My!
I think I was in a hit and run. As I looked up from the road, I saw the license plate, and it said, “2015.” Ok, maybe I wasn’t actually run over, but 2015 did feel like a hit and run of sorts. This year just started, right? How is it over already?
Well, as 2016 starts, it is important to take a quick look back at 2015 and see what we can learn…
Social-Engineer Newsletter – Vol 05 Issue 75
Social Media and the Social Engineer
Social media is one of those necessary evils. It seems that unless you are Adele, you need it to thrive in this business world. We have to tweet to our customers and fans, make sure our posts are on Facebook, update our Google+, and ensure that those in our LinkedIn Groups are included. The truth is, we love social media, don’t we? Yes, we even got Michele,…
Social-Engineer Newsletter – Vol 05 Issue 74
The Path to Becoming a Resourceful Social Engineer
Recently I watched an interesting horror-western film, Bone Tomahawk, which made me really start to think about the topic of resourcefulness. In the film, one of the characters, Chicory, (an old deputy played by Richard Jenkins) found himself in quite the predicament. He was determined to read literature in the bathtub, because he’d heard…
Social-Engineer Newsletter – Vol 05 Issue 73
Lessons from SE Attacks In the Wild
From the few weeks since the last newsletter we’ve seen a number of different headlines involving social engineering. Why are there more headlines covering our favorite subject lately? Is it because social engineering attacks have really increased? Maybe it’s because awareness for social engineering has risen. Perhaps it’s a combination of both. Where there…