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12-Low-Tech-Social-Engineering-and-Physical-Security.md

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Low Tech: Social Engineering and Physical Security

Social Engineering

  • The art of manipulating a person or group into providing information or a service they would otherwise not have given
  • Phases
    1. Research (dumpster dive, visit websites, tour the company, etc.)
    2. Select the victim (identify frustrated employee or other target)
    3. Develop a relationship
    4. Exploit the relationship (collect sensitive information)
  • Reasons This Works
    • Human nature (trusting others)
    • Ignorance of social engineering efforts
    • Fear (of consequences of not providing the information)
    • Greed (promised gain for providing requested information)
    • A sense of moral obligation

Human-Based Attacks

  • Dumpster Diving - looking for sensitive information in the trash
    • Shredded papers can sometimes indicate sensitive info
  • Impersonation - pretending to be someone you're not
    • Can be anything from a help desk person up to an authoritative figure (FBI agent)
    • Posing as a tech support professional can really quickly gain trust with a person
  • Vishing - using a phone during a social engineering effort (voice phishing)
  • Shoulder Surfing - looking over someone's shoulder to get info
    • Can be done long distance with binoculars, etc.
  • Eavesdropping - listening in on conversations about sensitive information
  • Tailgating - attacker has a fake badge and walks in behind someone who has a valid one
  • Piggybacking - attacker pretends they lost their badge and asks someone to hold the door
  • RFID Identity Theft (RFID skimming) - stealing an RFID card signature with a specialized device
  • Reverse Social Engineering - getting someone to call you and give information
    • Often happens with tech support - an email is sent to user stating they need them to call back (due to technical issue) and the user calls back
    • Can also be combined with a DoS attack to cause a problem that the user would need to call about
  • Always be pleasant - it gets more information
  • Rebecca or Jessica - targets for social engineering
  • Insider Attack - an attack from an employee, generally disgruntled
    • Sometimes subclassified (negligent insider, professional insider)

Computer-Based Attacks

  • Can begin with sites like Facebook where information about a person is available
  • For instance - if you know Bob is working on a project, an email crafted to him about that project would seem quite normal if you spoof it from a person on his project
  • Phishing - crafting an email that appears legitimate but contains links to fake websites or to download malicious content
  • Ways to Avoid Phishing
    • Beware unknown, unexpected or suspicious originators
    • Beware of who the email is addressed to
    • Verify phone numbers
    • Beware bad spelling or grammar
    • Always check links
  • Spear Phishing - targeting a person or a group with a phishing attack
    • Can be more useful because attack can be targeted
  • Whaling - going after CEOs or other C-level executives
  • Pharming - use of malicious code that redirects a user's traffic
  • Spimming - sending spam over instant message
  • Tools - Netcraft Toolbar and PhishTank Toolbar
  • Fake Antivirus - very prevalent attack; pretends to be an anti-virus but is a malicious tool

Mobile-Based Attacks

  • ZitMo (ZeuS-in-the-Mobile) - banking malware that was ported to Android
  • SMS messages can be sent to request premium services
  • Attacks
    • Publishing malicious apps
    • Repackaging legitimate apps
    • Fake security applications
    • SMS (smishing)

Physical Security Basics

  • Physical measures - everything you can touch, taste, smell or get shocked by
    • Includes things like air quality, power concerns, humidity-control systems
  • Technical measures - smartcards and biometrics
  • Operational measures - policies and procedures you set up to enforce a security-minded operation
  • Access controls - physical measures designed to prevent access to controlled areas
    • Biometrics - measures taken for authentication that come from the "something you are" concept
      • False rejection rate (FRR) - when a biometric rejects a valid user
      • False acceptance rate (FAR) - when a biometric accepts an invalid user
      • Crossover error rate (CER) - combination of the two; determines how good a system is
  • Even though hackers normally don't worry about environmental disasters, this is something to think of from a pen test standpoint (hurricanes, tornados, floods, etc.)