Social Engineering Overview and Techniques

Social Engineering Overview

• Social engineering encompasses techniques aimed at manipulating individuals to divulge confidential information or perform actions for malicious purposes.
• Commonly utilized in various cyber attacks, including phishing, baiting, and physical security breaches.

Social Engineering Attack Techniques

• Phishing Attacks: Fraudulent attempts to acquire sensitive information by posing as trustworthy entities. Types include:
  • Voice phishing (vishing)
  • SMS phishing (smishing)
  • Email phishing
  • Angler phishing
  • Search engine phishing
  • URL phishing
• DNS Spoofing and Cache Poisoning: Directs users to malicious websites by tampering with DNS records to bypass legitimate URLs.
• Scareware Attacks: Utilizes deceptive alerts about non-existent malware infections to coerce users into taking hasty actions.
• Watering Hole Attacks: Infects frequently visited websites to compromise users through undiscovered vulnerabilities, also known as zero-day exploits.
• Physical Social Engineering: In-person manipulation of employees (e.g., help desk staff) to gain restricted access. Key example: Tailgating—gaining entry by following authorized personnel.
• Baiting: Leverages curiosity through enticing offers (e.g., free items) to spread malware, often using physical USB drives or misleading emails.

Active Reconnaissance Techniques

• Involves actively connecting to a target to gather information, with a higher risk of detection. Key methods include:
  • Port Scanning
  • Enumeration
  • Use of tools like Wireshark and Maltego
  • Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Tools

Penetration Testing

• Definition: Simulation of real hacking techniques to evaluate a system’s security by identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities.
• Stages of Penetration Testing:
  • Reconnaissance: Initial phase focused on gathering exhaustive information about the target (network topology, user accounts).
  • Scanning: Identifying open ports and assessing network traffic for potential entry points.
  • Gaining Access: Techniques like password cracking or exploitation of software vulnerabilities enable control over targets.
  • Maintaining Access: Establishing persistence through methods like backdoors or rootkits to prevent removal by other attackers.
  • Clearing Tracks: Covering up the nature of the attacks to evade detection.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

• Penetration testers must uphold stringent ethical standards, ensuring confidentiality of discovered sensitive information.
• In Saudi Arabia, the Anti-Cyber Crime Law prescribes severe penalties (up to 5 years imprisonment) for violations related to digital misconduct and information security.

Tools for Passive Reconnaissance

• Netcraft: Online service providing insights about website technologies and hosting details.
• BuiltWith: Tool to analyze the technology stack of any given website.
• Shodan: Search engine for discovering devices connected to the internet, useful for identifying vulnerabilities.
• Google Advanced Search: Utilize specific search queries to extract focused information about targets, useful for reconnaissance.

Social Networking Exploitation

• Social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn) can be exploited for social engineering attacks.
• Attackers may create fake profiles to gather sensitive data by luring employees into revealing information.