LOOK OUT: Social Engineering Attacks

Most of us know to always be cautious when using the internet to ensure our sensitive information is always safe. The need to use the World Wide Web is only increasing which means we have new internet users all the time, and we aren't always sure of what to look out for. Testout Office Pro LabSim 1.4.8 Internet Safety Facts, provided me with many precaution tips for internet use, specifically:

• Never implicitly trust information from the Internet. This includes web pages, email messages, social media posts, and downloaded files. Always validate such information against reliable sources.

To dive a little deeper into why we should not trust all information on the internet let's discuss common social engineering attacks seen on the internet and examples of how they are used. Four common engineering attacks are Reconnaissance, Pretexting, Email Attacks, and Browser Attacks.

• Reconnaissance passively gathers information about a potential victim. The goal is to identify key information needed to further exploit the victim. Forms include shoulder surfing, eavesdropping, and dumpster diving.
• Pretexting attempts to trick the victim into revealing sensitive information under false pretenses. Some forms of pretexting are Intimidation, social validation, and familiarity.
• Email attacks attempt to exploit a victim using email messages, which include phishing, spear phishing, Nigerian scams, and email hoaxes.
• Browser attacks convince the victim that they are performing a legitimate task within their browser window, when in fact they are being tricked into revealing sensitive information or installing malware on their computer. Some examples are pharming and rogue antivirus attacks.

After reading about these engineering attack types and looking up situation scenarios for each I feel more equipped to spot spam and fraudulent attack attempts more efficiently to ensure I'm keeping my sensitive information internet safe.