Social Engineering for Security Attacks

Social Engineering for Security Attacks

لینک فایل پاورپوینت: http://www.slideshare.net/masoudkhademi14/social-engineering-for-security-attacks-70574009

چکیده

Social engineering, in the context of information security, refers to psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. A type of confidence trick for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or system access, it differs from a traditional "con" in that it is often one of many steps in a more complex fraud scheme.

The term "social engineering" as an act of psychological manipulation is also associated with the social sciences, but its usage has caught on among computer and information security professionals.

مقدمه

Social Engineering is a kind of advance persistent threat (APT) that gains private and sensitive information through social networks or

other types of communication. The attackers can use social engineering to obtain access into social network accounts and stays there

undetected for a long period of time. The purpose of the attack is to steal sensitive data and spread false information rather than to

cause direct damage. Such targets can include Facebook accounts of government agencies, corporations, schools or high-profile users. We

propose to use IDS, Intrusion Detection System, to battle such attacks. What the social engineering does is try to gain easy access, so

that the attacks can be repeated and ongoing. The focus of this study is to find out how this type of attacks are carried out so that they

can properly detected by IDS in future research.

بدنه تحقیق

Techniques and terms 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. The attacks used in social engineering can be used to steal employees' confidential information. The most common type of social engineering happens over the phone. Other examples of social engineering attacks are criminals posing as exterminators, fire marshals and technicians to go unnoticed as they steal company secrets.

One example of social engineering is an individual who walks into a building and posts an official-looking announcement to the company bulletin that says the number for the help desk has changed. So, when employees call for help the individual asks them for their passwords and IDs thereby gaining the ability to access the company's private information. Another example of social engineering would be that the hacker contacts the target on a social networking site and starts a conversation with the target. Slowly and gradually, the hacker gains trust of the target and then uses it to get access to sensitive information like password or bank account details.]

Pretexting Pretexting (adj. pretextual), 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.

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.

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 to create a pretextual scenario.

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

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".

Phishing Main article: Phishing 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 credit 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 or a credit card number. For example, in 2003, there was a phishing scam in which users received e-mails supposedly from eBay claiming that the user's account was about to be suspended unless a link provided was clicked to update a credit 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 and logos 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 credit card numbers with eBay legitimately, who might respond.

IVR or phone phishing Main article: Vishing Phone phishing (or "vishing") 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 "vishing" 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/defrauder, who poses as a customer service agent or security expert for further questioning of the victim.

Spear phishing Main article: Spear phishing Although similar to "phishing", spear phishing is a technique that fraudulently obtains private information by sending highly customized emails to few end users. It is the main difference between phishing attacks because phishing campaigns focus on sending out high volumes of generalized emails with the expectation that only a few people will respond. On the other hand, spear phishing emails require the attacker to perform additional research on their targets in order to "trick" end users into performing requested activities. The success rate of spear-phishing attacks is considerable higher than phishing attacks with people opening roughly 3% of phishing emails when compared to roughly 70% of potential attempts. However, when users actually open the emails phishing emails have a relatively modest 5% success rate to have the link or attachment clicked when compared to a spear-phishing attack's 50% success rate.]

Baiting Baiting is like the real-world Trojan horse that uses physical media and relies on the curiosity or greed of the victim. In this attack, attackers leave malware-infected floppy disks, CD-ROMs, or USB flash drives in locations people will find them (bathrooms, elevators, sidewalks, parking lots, etc.), give them legitimate and curiosity-piquing labels, and waits for victims. For example, an attacker may create a disk featuring a corporate logo, available from the target's website, and label it "Executive Salary Summary Q2 2012". The attacker then leaves the disk on the floor of an elevator or somewhere in the lobby of the target company. An unknowing employee may find it and insert the disk into a computer to satisfy his or her curiosity, or a good Samaritan may find it and return it to the company. In any case, just inserting the disk into a computer installs malware, giving attackers access to the victim's PC and, perhaps, the target company's internal computer network.

Unless computer controls block infections, insertion compromises PCs "auto-running" media. Hostile devices can also be used. For instance, a "lucky winner" is sent a free digital audio player compromising any computer it is plugged to. A "road apple" (the colloquial term for horse manure, suggesting the device's undesirable nature) is any removable media with malicious software left in opportunistic or conspicuous places. It may be a CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, among other media. Curious people take it and plug it into a computer, infecting the host and any attached networks. Hackers may give them enticing labels, such as "Employee Salaries" or "Confidential".]

Quid pro quo Quid pro quo means something for something:

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. In a 2003 information security survey, 90% of office workers gave researchers what they claimed was their password 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.] Tailgating Main article: Piggybacking (security) An attacker, seeking entry to a restricted area secured by unattended, electronic access control, e.g. by RFID card, 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 or the attackers themselves may ask the employee to hold it open for them. 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.

Other typesCommon 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.

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

Phishing credit-card account numbers and their passwords. Cracking private e-mails and chat histories, and manipulating them by using common editing 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 Convincing users to run malicious code within the web browser via self-XSS attack to allow access to their web account CountermeasuresOrganizations reduce their security risks by:

Establishing frameworks of trust on an employee/personnel level (i.e., specify and train personnel when/where/why/how sensitive information should be handled) Identifying which information is sensitive and evaluating its exposure to social engineering and breakdowns in security systems (building, computer system, etc.) Establishing security protocols, policies, and procedures for handling sensitive information. Training employees in security protocols relevant to their position. (e.g., in situations such as tailgating, if a person's identity cannot be verified, then employees must be trained to politely refuse.) Performing unannounced, periodic tests of the security framework. Reviewing the above steps regularly: no solutions to information integrity are perfect.] 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. Locating the dumpster either in view of employees so that trying to access it carries a risk of being seen or caught, or behind a locked gate or fence where the person must trespass before they can attempt to access the dumpster.]

نتیجه گیری

These are just a few of many techniques used by social engineers. Some of these involve technology (e.g., spear phishing) while others use tried and true methods of human manipulation (such as NLP). Social engineers use these tactics for a multitude of reasons, ranging from obtaining bank account numbers to acquiring trade secrets to sell to competitors.

If you are concerned about social engineers targeting people in your organization, you can take some steps to help thwart these attacks:

First, employees should be regularly trained in how to look out for suspicious people, e-mails, and phone calls. Second, train employees in what I like to call G.O.C.S. security—Good Old Common Sense security. In other words, some people just need to be taught some street smarts. I have seen companies do this by spelling out in their corporate security policy the dangers of using social networking sites and of drinking and discussing work topics with strangers (of course, this is only effective if employees actually read the policies which, as we all, is wishful thinking). Finally, employ the principle of need-to-know. The need-to-know principle states that employees should only be given enough information to do their job. They should not be given information about other departments or about decisions made at higher levels that do not relate to their work. This way, should a social engineer try to get information out of them, they would have limited information that they could reveal. Social engineering will always be around. As long as you are willing to have a healthy level of paranoia and good common sense, you do not need to fear them.

مراجع

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2 Spear-phishing statistics from 2014-2015 - InfoSec Resources. (2015, August 19). Retrieved June 08, 2016, from http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/spear-phishing-statistics-from-2014-2015.

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