We analyze all SE techniques

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Intro​

No system is safe, they said. Is it true? Probably yes, because any system has at least one vulnerability - a person. Let's talk about all types of SE attacks, from the simplest to the most advanced. A little practice and overall a pleasant, easy-to-read article with real examples from history.

The evolution of social engineering, a form of cyber manipulation that exploits human psychology to gain unauthorized access to information and systems, has changed significantly since its inception. Initially characterized by basic techniques such as phishing, pretexting, and spoofing, social engineering has evolved into a more sophisticated arsenal of psychological manipulation. These techniques have evolved into forms such as spear phishing, whaling, and watering hole attacks, exploiting both human and technological vulnerabilities to achieve malicious ends.

Social engineering is notable for its adaptability and effectiveness in compromising both individuals and organizations. It relies on the exploitation of trust, authority, and cognitive biases, making it a formidable threat in the cybersecurity landscape. The growing sophistication of these attacks is illustrated by high-profile incidents such as the RSA data breach in 2011 and the Target data breach in 2013, which highlight the significant financial and operational impact of successful social engineering campaigns.

In response to the growing threat of social engineering, a multi-layered defense strategy combining technology solutions, continuous security training, and vigilant incident response is becoming necessary. The future of social engineering is likely to continue to evolve due to advances in AI, the increasing use of new technologies, and the exploitation of global socioeconomic conditions. As attackers continue to refine their techniques, the importance of robust defenses and ethical considerations in cybersecurity remains paramount.

Types of Social Engineering Techniques​

Easy Techniques​

Early (soft) social engineering techniques relied heavily on basic psychological manipulation and simple technical tricks to deceive targets into revealing sensitive information or getting them to take actions that could compromise their security.

Pretexting​

Pretexting is an early social engineering technique in which an attacker creates a fictitious scenario to obtain information from a target. During pretexting, the attacker often pretends to be someone in a position of authority or who has a legitimate reason to obtain the information. This technique is often used against companies that hold customer data, such as banks, credit card companies, and utility companies.

Bait​

Baiting involves placing something enticing or interesting in front of the victim to lure them into a social engineering trap. A classic example of baiting is handing out free USB drives at a conference. An unsuspecting user might think they are getting a free storage device, but the USB drive may be loaded with a remote access virus that infects the computer when connected.

Phishing​

Phishing is one of the earliest and most enduring forms of social engineering. It involves an attacker posing as a trusted individual to trick a user into opening a fake email with a malicious link, file attachment, or embedded code. Once the victim interacts with the email, the attacker can exploit the user's system to steal data, accounts, or install malware. The term “phishing,” with its fancy spelling using “ph” instead of “f,” is a reference to the early hacker culture known as “phreaks,” which targeted telephone systems. The first known reference to phishing dates back nearly 36 years, highlighting its long-standing presence as a significant threat on the internet. One common example of phishing is email phishing, which involves sending emails impersonating someone else in the hopes of extracting valuable information. For example, a cybercriminal might send a letter to a victim pretending to be a relative in an attempt to collect personal information such as an address, birthday, or login credentials.

The evolution of phishing​

Phishing has evolved significantly since its inception in email format. Modern phishing attacks now include a variety of vectors, such as SMS messages (SMS phishing), QR codes (quishing), and deceptive URLs (HTTPS phishing). Business email compromise (BEC) has also become a significant threat, targeting employees with access to external tools such as email and social media.

Passage and tail passage​

Passing and tailgating are physical social engineering techniques. Passing involves following an authorized individual into a restricted area without their knowledge, while tailgating requires that the authorized individual knowingly allow the attacker to gain access. These techniques exploit human behavior and physical security vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access to protected areas.

Spear phishing​

Spear phishing is a targeted phishing method that focuses on specific individuals or groups within an organization. Unlike general phishing attacks that cast a wide net in the hopes of catching any suspicious victim, spear phishing involves advance research and personalization. Attackers gather detailed information about their targets to create convincing emails or messages that appear to come from a trusted source, such as a co-worker or boss. This level of personalization greatly increases the likelihood that the target will respond by revealing sensitive information or taking an action that compromises security.

Example​

A common example of spear phishing is an email that appears to come from the CEO of a company, asking an employee for sensitive financial information. The email may reference specific details known only to the CEO and the employee, making it appear persuasive. This creates a sense of urgency and trust, leading the employee to act without further vetting.

We will also present the simplest, most straightforward code that combines elements of social mapping, behavioral analysis, and automated spear phishing, using machine learning algorithms to improve the effectiveness of the attack.

• Creating a social graph to analyze connections between employees.
• Using machine learning to assess the vulnerability of targets.
• Generating personalized phishing content using GPT.
• A multi-stage decision-making process for carrying out an attack.

Attacks on infected sites​

Site-based malware attacks involve compromising a website that is frequently visited by a target group of people. The attacker identifies a website or resource that their target group frequently uses and infects it with malware. When members of the target group visit the infected site, their devices become infected, giving the attacker access to sensitive information. This technique relies on users' trust in legitimate websites, making it stealthy and effective.

Major incident​

A significant instance of a compromised website occurred in February 2021, when hackers compromised a water treatment plant in Florida. The attackers identified a website that was frequently used by the facility's employees and planted malware on it. When the employees visited the site, the malware allowed the attackers to remotely change the water treatment settings, dangerously increasing the sodium hydroxide levels in the water. Fortunately, an alert operator noticed the anomaly and corrected the settings before any harm could be done.

Attacks on leaders (whaling)​

Executive whaling is an advanced form of spear phishing that targets senior executives and C-suite management. The goal of these attacks is to exploit the authority and access privileges of high-ranking individuals within an organization. Attackers create well-written emails that use business language and create a sense of urgency, often requesting actions such as transferring funds or disclosing sensitive data. These attacks are especially dangerous because the targets have significant decision-making authority, increasing the potential damage from the attack.

Sample script​

In one notable case, the attackers posed as the CFO of a company and sent a fake email to another executive, instructing him to initiate a large transfer of funds to an external account. The email was carefully crafted to mimic the CFO's writing style and included specific business language, making it highly persuasive. The executive, believing the email to be genuine, complied with the request, resulting in significant financial losses for the company.

Additional techniques​

Other intermediate social engineering techniques include information gathering, framing, pretexting (see above), and cold calling. Information gathering involves subtly and indirectly gathering data from the target. Framing forces information into a specific context to manipulate perception. Pretexting, also known as emotional positioning, involves creating fictitious scenarios to justify asking questions.

Advanced Social Engineering Techniques​

Emotional manipulation​

Emotional manipulation plays a major role in the arsenal of social engineers. They use a wide range of human emotions such as fear, curiosity, and excitement to manipulate their targets. Techniques such as information gathering involve subtle and indirect collection of data, while framing shapes the target's perception by presenting information in a specific context.

Trust and Authority​

Social engineers often assume roles or identities that inspire trust. They pose as trusted colleagues, senior managers, or knowledgeable IT technicians to take advantage of people's natural tendency to defer to authority figures and follow social norms. This technique is especially effective in highly hierarchical environments, where employees are trained to follow instructions from perceived authorities without question.

Cognitive exploitation​

Social engineering techniques rely heavily on cognitive biases, which are innate errors in human decision-making. These biases are byproducts of the brain's tendency to shorten the time it takes to process information, which is beneficial from an evolutionary perspective but can be exploited in modern cyberspace. For example, representativeness bias causes people to group similar stimuli together, making it easier for attackers to trick them with phishing emails that appear to come from legitimate sources like Apple or Amazon.

Reciprocity and social proof​

By offering something that has clear value, such as free software or small services, social engineers stimulate the instinct for reciprocity. When people feel they have received something, they are more likely to reciprocate, which may include providing sensitive information or access to secure systems. Social engineers also exploit the social proof bias by demonstrating that others have already complied with their requests, making it more likely that the target will follow suit.

Connection and trust​

Establishing contact and forming a bond with a target is a powerful tool in social engineering. Attackers may feign common interests, pay compliments, or appear genuinely nice to lower the victim's guard. This increases their willingness to cooperate, which often leads to the disclosure of sensitive information or the fulfillment of malicious requests.

Exploiting the latest trends​

Social engineers also use recent trends and news to make their attacks more credible. For example, recency bias causes people to place greater weight on recent events or information. By timing their attacks to recent events or news, social engineers increase the likelihood that their requests will be accepted without due diligence. Additionally, overconfidence bias—the tendency to overestimate one's abilities and judgment—can make targets think they are too smart to fall for tricks, making them more vulnerable to manipulation.

Advanced tools and technologies​

Recent advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI) are raising concerns about social engineering. AI can be used by attackers to create highly sophisticated threat campaigns that manipulate human behavior with greater precision. Automated data collection and the creation of realistic, context-specific content further enhance the effectiveness of these manipulative schemes, making them increasingly difficult to recognize and resist.

The role of social networks​

Social media has significantly transformed the social engineering landscape, providing cybercriminals with new platforms to operate. Unlike traditional communication tools such as email and telephone, social media is particularly suitable for social engineering attacks due to its ubiquity and the vast amount of personal information that users share on these networks.

Social networks as a phishing tool​

Social media has become a preferred medium for cybercriminals to conduct phishing attacks, known as “social phishing.” These attacks can include account takeovers, impersonations, scams, and malware distribution. Identifying and mitigating these threats is more difficult than traditional methods because social media exists outside the network perimeter. For example, in 2014, nation-state threat actors launched large-scale social media attacks on Microsoft, affecting multiple Twitter accounts and exposing the passwords and email addresses of dozens of Microsoft employees. According to Kaspersky Lab, there were more than 3.7 million phishing attempts targeting fake social media pages in the first quarter of 2018, 60% of which were fake Facebook pages.

Psychological Profiling and the Influence of Social Media​

Modern social engineers use psychological profiling to better understand their target audience. This helps them tailor messages for maximum impact. Social media plays a key role in this process, allowing attackers to collect extensive data on people that can be used to predict behavior and make decisions. The rise of social media has added a new dimension to social engineering, with online personalities using their presence to inspire action, change perceptions, and draw attention to various social issues.

Evolution of tactics​

The principles of scarcity and urgency are often used by social engineers to manipulate people into making hasty decisions. By creating a false sense of scarcity or urgency, attackers can induce immediate action, bypassing rational judgment and critical thinking. Not only does this technique undermine decision-making, but it also raises questions about the ethical implications of manipulating human psychology to achieve malicious goals.

The threat of organizational social engineering extends beyond individual or security, posing risks to political stability and free, independent discourse. The manipulation of information on social media platforms, as demonstrated by the Cambridge Analytica scandal, highlights how social engineering can be used to influence public opinion and election results.

Automated Intelligence and AI​

The advent of AI tools has further complicated the social engineering landscape. AI can quickly gather intelligence on targets by scanning data sources like social media, which can be used to improve social engineering tactics. This makes it faster, easier, and cheaper to execute targeted campaigns, leaving organizations and individuals struggling to protect their defenses.

In this case, we can imagine an approximate automation structure. The code tries to analyze several key factors:

1. Social connections of users (using graph theory).
2. Behavioral patterns (using cluster analysis).
3. Emotional state of users (through mood analysis of recent posts).
4. Level of engagement and activity on a social network.

Political and social impact​

The distribution and re-dissemination of news articles on social media, along with the posting of subtle advertisements, petitions and political messages, can lead to political distortions. This can lead to a loss of trust in political systems, potentially leading to the election of extremist political parties or referendum results that challenge existing political and economic structures, such as Brexit. Moreover, the ability of bad actors to exploit human trust and introduce misinformation into public discourse can significantly undermine social harmony, polarize communities and divert resources from legitimate news reporting to refuting false claims.

Social Media Usage Statistics​

The impact of social media on social engineering is underscored by its widespread adoption. In 2005, only about 7% of American adults used social media. By 2017, that figure had risen to 80% for Facebook alone. Globally, approximately 3.5 billion people actively use social media. Daily activity on these platforms includes posting 500 million tweets, sharing more than 10 billion pieces of content on Facebook, and watching more than a billion hours of video on YouTube.

Fathers of Social Engineering​

Kevin Mitnick​

One of the most famous figures in the history of social engineering is Kevin Mitnick. Once the most wanted cybercriminal in the United States, Mitnick became a fugitive in 1992 after violating parole for previous cyber crimes by listening to the voicemails of authorities who were monitoring him. Mitnick is known for popularizing the concept of "social engineering" in the 1990s, manipulating users and systems through clever tricks and deception.

His book, The Art of Deception: Managing the Human Element of Security, published in 2013, provides a comprehensive overview of social engineering techniques and his personal experiences.

Susan Hadley​

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Susan Hadley, also known as Susan Thunder, became known for her mastery of social engineering, pretexting, and psychological subversion. Hadley was renowned for her ability to manipulate people into revealing sensitive information, demonstrating an early use of social engineering to exploit human vulnerabilities.

Badir brothers​

The Badir brothers, Rami, Mukhzer and Shaddle Badir, were blind from birth but managed to organize a large-scale telephone and computer fraud scheme in Israel in the 1990s. Their activities included social engineering, "vishing" and the use of Braille computers to deceive and manipulate victims.

Frank Abagnale​

Frank Abagnale is another prominent figure in the world of social engineering. Known for his exploits as a con artist, Abagnale used techniques such as pretexting and identity theft to pull off a variety of scams. His life story was popularized in the film Catch Me If You Can, which highlights his skills in deception and manipulation.

RSA data hack​

A significant example of social engineering leading to a major security breach occurred in 2011 with the RSA data breach. Attackers sent two phishing emails over two days to a group of RSA employees with the subject line "2011 Hiring Plan". The emails contained an infected Excel document that exploited an Adobe Flash vulnerability (CVE-2011-0609), resulting in a compromise of RSA's security systems.

Target data breach​

In 2013, Target suffered a massive data breach that began when a third-party vendor fell victim to a phishing email. The email contained a Trojan horse that allowed attackers to gain access to Target's point-of-sale (POS) system. The breach resulted in theft of 40 million credit card details, highlighting the far-reaching impact of successful social engineering attacks.

Future Trends of Social Engineering​

The future of social engineering attacks promises to evolve significantly, driven by a combination of sophisticated tactics and advanced technologies. Looking ahead, there are several key trends that will shape the attack landscape.

Advanced Tactics and Strategies​

The nature of social engineering attacks will become more sophisticated as attackers employ detailed strategies tailored to their specific targets and contexts. Social engineering tactics will likely continue to employ both direct and reverse strategies, with attackers either directly contacting targets or enticing them to contact under the guise of legitimacy. The integration of sub-targets and additional subterfuge will further complicate these attack methods, making them difficult to detect and counter.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence​

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already having a significant impact on the field of social engineering, and its influence is likely to grow. AI tools, including generative AI, are being used to create highly personalized and convincing attack vectors. For example, AI can analyze images and other data to customize phishing emails that match the recipient's interests and behavior. As AI technology advances, real-time deepfakes could become a common tool, forcing businesses to adapt their security policies.

Increased Focus on Business Email Compromise (BEC)​

Business email compromise (BEC) is expected to increase, particularly due to more sophisticated phishing tactics. Attackers will likely target supply chains and third-party vendors, using these entry points to access larger networks and potentially higher-value targets. Additionally, companies with greater financial resources, such as those insured against cyber threats, may become prime targets due to their high likelihood of paying ransoms.

Exploitation of Socio-Economic Conditions​

Global socioeconomic conditions, which are becoming increasingly unstable, will continue to impact cybersecurity. This instability can create fertile ground for social engineering attacks, as attackers exploit economic uncertainty to more effectively manipulate victims. With the collapse of major ransomware groups and the emergence of new actors employing fresh tactics, the cybersecurity landscape will remain turbulent.

Integration with Emerging Technologies​

Social engineering threats will grow with the introduction of new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile communications, and wearables. The proliferation of these technologies increases the amount of information available, making it easier to gather intelligence for targeted attacks. Social engineering is also becoming more efficient and automated, allowing attackers to reach larger groups of targets and create more credible attacks.

In conclusion​

This article covered almost all SE techniques, from the simplest and most straightforward to the most advanced and complex. It also provided examples of codes that combined techniques and used machine learning in combination for full automation.