Flattery is the tool of choice for social hackers, the perfect bait to catch their victims, from simple-minded millennials to sophisticated executives.
Do you love taking selfies so that you can post them on social networks and collect as many likes as possible? Without hesitation, do you add as friends everyone who sends you an invitation to be friends? Then you are at risk, and you should think about talking less about your life on social networks. Cybercriminals and hackers are after those who flaunt their lives. The result of this hunt can be disastrous for you personally and for your employer.
“We increasingly see social engineering techniques exploiting the narcissism of victims.” says information security consultant Jessica Barker.
A lot of users, especially millennials, are looking to boost their egos, and social hackers are exploiting this weakness to their advantage. “Studies show that people with narcissistic personality traits want to maximize their social media contacts and therefore strive to get as many “friends” or followers as possible.», says Barker.
Narcissistic users are not shy about talking about their lives in detail.
At a minimum, the danger lies in the fact that cybercriminals create fake accounts on social networks. With their help, they make friends with potential victims and try to manipulate them. A vain person is a godsend for them, they will not fail to send him an invitation to be friends, knowing that he craves popularity.
In addition, narcissistic users do not hesitate to talk about their lives in detail, which also creates potential risks.
“They want the whole world to know what they are doing, where they are, what they like, but it is clear that criminals can take advantage of this frankness and cause such a huge damage to such a person,” says Barker. For example, knowing everything about the life, hobbies and pets of the user, you can try to figure out his passwords.
And finally, there remains the most crude and direct way by which cybercriminals can influence the victim – open blackmail. “The tricks are well known,” explains Barker. Let’s say a pretty girl starts flirting with a man. They become friends, chatting, then communication turns into flirting, candid shots are exchanged … Having received trophies, cybercriminals attack the victim, trying to extract more money from her.
There was even a special term “valing”, denoting cyber attacks on high-ranking officials
To some, these hacker technologies will seem too obvious and therefore not dangerous – well, who will fall for it, except perhaps very young and naive users! However, this is not the case, says Barker. Such schemes, perhaps somewhat improved, come across even experienced top managers of companies. There was even a special term “valing”, denoting fraudulent cyber attacks on high-ranking officials.
“They are often let down by overconfidence. Let’s say such an executive receives an email asking him to transfer money to the president of the company, says Jessica Barker. “The order seems flattering to the addressee, and this deprives him of criticality.”
The conclusion is clear: we should all be careful in the virtual space. Social engineering techniques, sometimes referred to as “brain hacking,” are becoming more sophisticated and perhaps more difficult to counter. But at least we don’t have to open the door for criminals, inviting them into our lives.
For details, see zdnet.com.