Social engineering

Social engineering is the name given to attempts to obtain secure information by gaining the trust of the person who possesses that information.

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I am reminded of the methods used in the past to gain access to some of the most secure buildings in London.

Imagine the scene, a cute girl with a teddy bear and a box of chocolates shows up at the reception, “It’s a surprise for Jason Brown from his girlfriend and the teddy bear, the chocolates and the message have to be delivered in person.” . The receptionist says that her security policies won’t let her in, but she claims it’s an emergency and, trusting the girl, just this once, she lets her in. Of course she’s not delivering a Valentine’s gift, she’s been sent to test the security of the company.

Imagine the second scenario, the phone rings and the person on the other end explains that he is one of the IT engineers testing the company intranet and has foolishly gone to the data center without taking his book of strong passwords, if any. discover you will probably be fired; Can the person help you this time and give you login and password information? The result can be terrifying.

The third scenario is even more worrisome; at a train station, the offer is a free pen if the person simply types their username and password on a piece of paper. Each person who does so will be entered into a draw with the chance to win a holiday, a million pounds or some other prize. Unfortunately, too many people take up this offer and compromise their security systems.

This year, with February 29 being the day ladies can traditionally propose to their men, it’s quite possible that many secure buildings will be invaded by women claiming to want to propose, and it should come as a surprise, right?

And finally, the smoking ban has had a very detrimental effect on safety; the fire doors at the rear of the building are left open to allow smokers to come out for a cigarette and come back in later. The social engineer will simply mingle with the smokers and follow them. Security breached.