Social Engineering

Which of the following best defines a social engineer?

• Someone who spends a lot of time in public places.

• Someone who leverages psychological manipulation to hack humans.

• Someone who breaks into networks with sophisticated hacking tools.

• Someone who designs malicious software to phish people.

You receive a text message from your bank stating that your account has been locked due to fraudulent activity, and to unlock it you need to click a link and log in.

What should you do next?

• Delete the message and call your bank directly to confirm.

• Forward the text to a friend and see if they think it's suspicious.

• Click the link so you can fix your account.

Why should you never plug a random USB drive into your computer?

• Because it could contain malware or viruses.

• Because it could have been left for you to find it intentionally.

• Because it might violate our organization's policies.

• All of the above.

Someone from the IT department calls you and states that he needs your username and password so the can run an update on your computer. How should you handle this situation?

• Promptly end the phone call and report the incident to management.

• Tell him you'll email your username and password to the IT department because that's a safer form of communication.

• Give him your username and password since updates are a crucial part of security.

• Put him on hold and ask your co-worker if their computer has been updated.

Which of the following statements is true?

• Emails that request sensitive information of any sort should be treated with skepticism.

• Emails from your boss and other co-workers can always be trusted.

• Emails with spammy content are harmless.

• Emails containing attachments are usually malicious.

Your manager is attending a meeting that is out of town. You receive a text message from her late at night indicating she lost her purse and asking you to urgently send her some funds until she can get to the bank in the morning. Which of the following is the biggest red flag in this scenario?

• Your manager urgently needs you to send her money.

• Your manager has to go to the bank in the morning.

• Your manager is sending you a message late at night.

• Your manager is attending a meeting that is out of town.

You receive a call from “Credit Services.” The person on the line compliments you on your great credit history and also informs you that you have qualified for a card with better features and a lower rate. They’ll only need a few minutes of your time to go over some personal information before they can get the card out to you. Which of the following is the biggest red flag in this scenario?

• You'll have to provide personal information.

• They'll only need a few minutes of your time.

• You have qualified for a credit card.

• You received a call from "Credit Services."

You receive a generic email notification about an issue with the delivery of a recent order. You’re instructed to click on a link included in the email for further information about the order. When you click, it opens a webpage which asks for your account username and password before you can view the information. Which of the following is the biggest red flag in this scenario?

• There is an issue while delivering your order.

• The email you received was a generic notification.

• The information about the delivery problems is not contained in the email.

• Your username and password are required to view the information.

A person wearing a uniform and a badge, indicating they’re with a printer repair company, is sitting unsupervised at a coworker’s desk. They seem to be looking through the files and documents that are visible on that machine. It seems suspicious, so you ask if they need some assistance. They tell you that the printer is having problems, so they were looking for a file they could print, to diagnose the problem better. Which of the following is the biggest red flag in this scenario?

• They are looking through the files on the system.

• There is a repair person wearing a uniform.

• They are trying to diagnose a problem with a printer.

• They are sitting unescorted at a coworker's desk.

You receive an email from an online music service you subscribe to. The message indicates there was a problem while processing a recent payment. It also says your account will be deactivated if you don’t update your payment information within 60 minutes of reading this message. The bottom of the message includes a reassuring notification that the included link has been scanned and is clean of any viruses. Which of the following is the biggest red flag in this scenario?

• There was a problem with processing a recent payment.

• You received an email from your online music service.

• The included link was scanned for viruses.

• You'll have to act with 60 minutes of reading the message.