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Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing
Attacks
| Do not give sensitive information to anyone
unless you are sure that they are indeed who they claim to be
and that they should have access to the information. |
What is a social engineering attack?
To launch a social engineering attack, an attacker uses human interaction
(social skills) to obtain or compromise information about an organization
or its computer systems. An attacker may seem unassuming and respectable,
possibly claiming to be a new employee, repair person, or researcher
and even offering credentials to support that identity. However, by
asking questions, he or she may be able to piece together enough information
to infiltrate an organization's network. If an attacker is not able
to gather enough information from one source, he or she may contact
another source within the same organization and rely on the information
from the first source to add to his or her credibility.
What is a phishing attack?
Phishing is a form of social engineering. Phishing attacks use email
or malicious web sites to solicit personal, often financial, information.
Attackers may send email seemingly from a reputable credit card company
or financial institution that requests account information, often
suggesting that there is a problem. When users respond with the requested
information, attackers can use it to gain access to the accounts.
How do you avoid being a victim?
- Be suspicious of unsolicited phone calls, visits, or email messages
from individuals asking about employees or other internal information.
If an unknown individual claims to be from a legitimate organization,
try to verify his or her identity directly with the company.
- Do not provide personal information or information about your
organization, including its structure or networks, unless you
are certain of a person's authority to have the information.
- Do not reveal personal or financial information in email, and
do not respond to email solicitations for this information. This
includes following links sent in email.
- Don't send sensitive information over the Internet before checking
a web site's security (see Protecting
Your Privacy for more information).
- Pay attention to the URL of a web site. Malicious web sites
may look identical to a legitimate site, but the URL may use a
variation in spelling or a different domain (e.g., .com vs. .net).
- If you are unsure whether an email request is legitimate, try
to verify it by contacting the company directly. Do not use contact
information provided on a web site connected to the request; instead,
check previous statements for contact information. Information
about known phishing attacks is also available online from groups
such as the Anti-Phishing Working Group ( http://www.antiphishing.org/phishing_archive.html
).
- Install and maintain anti-virus software, firewalls, and email
filters to reduce some of this traffic (see Understanding
Firewalls , Understanding
Anti-Virus Software , and Reducing
Spam for more information).
What do you do if you
think you are a victim?
- If you believe you might have revealed sensitive information
about your organization, report it to the appropriate people within
the organization, including network administrators. They can be
alert for any suspicious or unusual activity.
- If you believe your financial accounts may be compromised, contact
your financial institution immediately and close any accounts
that may have been compromised. Watch for any unexplainable charges
to your account.
- Consider reporting the attack to the police, and file a report
with the Federal Trade Commission ( http://www.ftc.gov/
).
Author: Mindi McDowell |
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