Cybersecurity: Targeted Attacks and Social Media Risks

Types of Cyber Attacks

• Cybercriminals launch targeted attacks, also known as spear phishing, to extract personal information.
• Fishing attacks are more likely to be successful because they are highly personalized and appear legitimate.

Social Media Risks

• Cybercriminals extract personal information from social media accounts to launch targeted attacks.
• Seemingly innocuous posts can become valuable weapons for cybercriminals.

Example of a Targeted Attack

• A hacker uses social media to gather information about a person's organization and achievements.
• The hacker creates a credible story to build a false sense of trust with the victim.
• The hacker uses pretexting and quid pro quo to extract information from the victim.

Pretexting

• A social engineering method where the hacker uses gathered information to create a credible story.
• The goal is to build a false sense of trust between the hacker and the victim.

Quid Pro Quo

• A social engineering method where the hacker offers something in exchange for something.
• The goal is to reduce resistance to the hacker's requests.

Consequences of Targeted Attacks

• If a cybercriminal gains trust with the correct context and timing, they can gain access to sensitive information.
• The victim may unknowingly provide access to their computer and organizational information.

Types of Cyber Attacks

• Cybercriminals launch targeted attacks, known as spear phishing, to extract personal information.
• These attacks are highly personalized and appear legitimate, making them more likely to be successful.

Social Media Risks

• Cybercriminals extract personal information from social media accounts to launch targeted attacks.
• Seemingly innocuous posts on social media can become valuable weapons for cybercriminals.

Targeted Attacks

• Hackers gather information about a person's organization and achievements from social media.
• They create a credible story to build a false sense of trust with the victim.
• Pretexting and quid pro quo are used to extract information from the victim.

Pretexting

• A social engineering method where hackers use gathered information to create a credible story.
• The goal is to build a false sense of trust between the hacker and the victim.

Quid Pro Quo

• A social engineering method where hackers offer something in exchange for something.
• The goal is to reduce resistance to the hacker's requests.

Consequences of Targeted Attacks

• If a cybercriminal gains trust with the correct context and timing, they can gain access to sensitive information.
• Victims may unknowingly provide access to their computer and organizational information.

Information Security

• Information security is an approach to safeguarding, preventing, detecting, and remediating attacks and threats to sensitive information, both digital and non-digital.

Pillars of Information Security

• There are three pillars of information security: confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Confidentiality

• Confidentiality refers to protecting information from unauthorized access or potential disclosure.
• Solutions designed to protect confidentiality include:
  • Encryption
  • Access controls
  • Similar solutions

Integrity

• Integrity refers to ensuring that unauthorized modifications to data can't be performed without detection.
• Solutions designed to ensure information integrity include:
  • Hashes
  • Check sums
  • Digital signatures

Availability

• Availability measures whether systems or data are available to legitimate users.
• Solutions designed to ensure availability include:
  • Backups
  • Load balancing
  • Similar solutions

Cyber Security

• Cyber security is the application of technology, techniques, and controls to defend systems, networks, programs, devices, and data against cyber attacks.
• It is a prominent topic of discussion in the world of technology today.

Components of Cyber Security

• Information Security
• Application Security
• Network Security
• End-user Security
• Operational Security
• Disaster Recovery Planning

Importance of Cyber Security

• Assessment of cyber security and information security is crucial after completing readings.