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Top 3 Social Engineering Scams

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Think about hackers breaking into accounts. If you think they need top-notch computer skills, you would be wrong. These days, instead of requiring skills behind a keyboard, hackers generally rely on strategy…specifically a strategy called social engineering. This means that hackers don’t have to be technical, but they DO have to be clever and crafty because they are essentially taking advantage of people and “tricking” them into giving information.

There are four main ways that hackers use social engineering:

  • Phishing – where hackers use email tricks to get account information
  • Vishing – similar to phishing, but through voice over the phone
  • Impersonation – the act of getting information in person
  • Smishing – getting account info through text messages

Phishing accounts for 77 percent of all social engineering incidents, according to Social Engineer, but in vishing attacks, alone, businesses lose, on average, $43,000 per account.

Here are the top scams that all consumers and businesses should know about as we move into 2017:

Scam Using the IRS

Starting from the holiday season stretching through the end of tax season, there are scams involving the IRS. One such scam uses caller ID to change the true number of the caller and replaces it with a number from Washington, D.C., making it look like the number is from the IRS. Usually, the hacker already knows a lot about the victim, as they got information illegally, so it really sounds legit.

In this scam, the hacker tells the victim that they owe a couple of thousands of dollars to the IRS. If the victim falls for it, the hacker explains that due to the tardiness, it must be paid via a money transfer, which is non-traceable and nonrefundable.

BEC or Business Email Compromise Scam

In the business email compromise, or BEC scam, a hacker’s goal is to get into a business email account and get access to any financial data that is stored within. This might be login information, back statements, or verifications of payments or wire transfers.

Sometimes a hacker will access the email by using an email file that contains malware. If an employee opens the file, the malware will infect the computer and the hacker has an open door to come right in.

Another way that hackers use the BEC scan is to access the email of a CEO. In this case, they will impersonate the CEO and tell the financial powers that be that he or she requires a wire transfer to a bank account. This account, of course, belongs to the hacker not the business. When most people get an email from their boss asking them to do something, they do it.

Ransomware

Finally, hackers are also commonly using ransomware to hack their victims. In this case, the hackers are working towards convincing targets to install dangerous software onto their computer. Then, the computer locks out the data and the victim cannot access it…until he or she pays a ransom.

At this point, they are informed that they can get access back when they pay a ransom. This might range from a couple of hundred to several thousands. Usually, the hackers demand payment by bank transfer, credit card, bitcoin, PayPal, or money transfer services. Victims are usually encouraged to go to a certain website or call a certain number Unfortunately, too often, once the victim pays the ransom, the hacker never opens up the system. So now, the hacker has access to the victim’s computer and their credit card or financial information.

The way social engineering works in this scam is varied:

One way is this…imagine you are browsing the internet, and then you get a popup warning that looks quite official, such as from the FBI. It might say something like “Our programs have found child pornography on your computer. You are immediately being reported to the FBI unless you pay a fine.” When you click the popup to pay, the program actually downloads a program called spyware to your computer that will allow the hacker to access your system.

Another way that social engineering works with ransomware is through voice. In this case, you might get a phone call from someone saying they are from Microsoft and the representative tells you that they have scanned your computer and have found files that are malicious. Fortunately, they can remotely access the machine and fix the problem, but you have to install a program to allow this. When you install it, you give them access to everything, including personal and financial information, and they can do what they want with it.

Finally, you might get an email offering a free screen saver or coupon, but when you open it, the software encrypts your drive and takes over your computer.

Robert Siciliano personal security and identity theft expert and speaker is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen. See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video.

Social Engineering: How to steal Brand New iPhones from Apple

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Looks like there’s some worms in Apple.

3DNot too long ago, dozens and dozens of iPhones were stolen from two Apple stores. How could this happen, what with Apple’s security? Simple: The thieves wore clothes similar to Apple store employees and obviously knew the innards of the stores.

They sauntered over to the drawers that held the new phones, acting nonchalant to avoid attracting attention. In fact, a new face in Apple attire at one of the stung locations wouldn’t raise eyebrows since new employees are trained there.

What mistake did Apple make to allow these robberies? The introduction of new uniforms, perhaps? They came up with the idea of “back to blue, but all new” attire. But really, that shouldn’t be so easy.

This meant no one and only uniform, but rather, a variety of options that fit within a color and style concept. This makes it easy for someone off the street to visually blend in with store employees. There are six styles of just the top alone. You can pick up a strikingly similar top, including color, at Walmart. And unlike previous attire, which changed seasonally, this new line is meant to be permanent.

Have you yourself ever been mistaken for an employee at Walmart or Target (blue shirt, red shirt), or asked someone for assistance who replied, “I don’t work here”? See how easy it is to blend in—without even trying?

The theft at the two Apple stores are believed to be related, but the thieves are not known. It’s also not known if the thief or thieves were wearing an actual Apple top or just a look-a-like.

This ruse can easily be pulled off by anyone appearing to be in their early to mid-20s, clean-cut, wearing glasses (to look geeky), and with calm, cool and collected mannerisms—and of course, a royal blue shirt.

The solution would be for Apple to require a line of tops with a very distinct color pattern, and only two choices (short and long sleeved).

The lesson here: Not everything or everyone appears to be what they actually are. Social engineering is a confidence crime. As long as the thief has your confidence either in person, over the phone or via email, you are likely to get scammed.

Always be suspect. Always challenge what’s in front of you. Never go along to get along. And put systems, checks and balances in place to prevent being scammed. In this situation, proper, secure identification and authentication with proper checks would have prevented this.

Robert Siciliano CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, personal security and identity theft expert and speaker is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen. See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video.

Hacking Humans: How Cybercriminals Trick Their Victims

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Intel Security has compiled a list of the top ways cybercriminals play with the minds of their targeted victims. And the chief way that the cybercriminals do this is via phishing scams—that are designed to take your money.

11DThe fact that two-thirds of all the emails out there on this planet are phishy tells me that there’s a heck of a lot of people out there who are easily duped into giving over their money. I’m riled because many of these emails (we all get them) scream “SCAM!” because their subject lines are so ridiculous, not to mention the story of some befallen prince that’s in the message

I bet there’s a dozen phishing emails sitting in your junk folder right now. Unfortunately, a lot of these scam emails find their way into your inbox as well.

McAfee Labs™ has declared that there’s over 30 million URLS that may be of a malicious nature. Malicious websites are often associated with scammy emails—the email message lures you into clicking on a link to the phony website.

Clicking on the link may download a virus, or, it may take you to a phony website that’s made to look legitimate. And then on this phony site, you input sensitive information like your credit card number and password because you think the site really IS your bank’s site, or some other service that you have an account with.

6 ways hackers get inside your head:

  1. Threatening you to comply…or else. The “else” often being deactivation of their account (which the scammer has no idea you have, but he sent out so many emails with this threat that he knows that the law of numbers means he’ll snare some of you in his trap).
  2. Getting you to agree to do something because the hacker knows that in general, most people want to live up to their word. That “something,” of course, is some kind of computer task that will compromise security—totally unknown to you, of course.
  3. Pretending to be someone in authority. This could be the company CEO, the IRS or the manager of your bank.
  4. Providing you with something so that you feel obligated to return the favor.
  5. “If everyone else does it, it’s okay.” Hackers apply this concept by making a phishing email appear that it’s gone out to other people in the your circle of friends or acquaintances.
  6. Playing on your emotions to get you to like the crook. A skilled fraudster will use wit and charm, information from your social profiles, or even a phony picture he took off of a photo gallery of professional models to win your trust.

In order to preventing human hacking via phishing scams, you need to be aware of them. Aware of the scams, ruses, motivations and then simply hit delete. Whenever in doubt, pick up the phone and call the sender to confirm the email is legit.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Safety Expert to Intel Security. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked! Disclosures.

Top 5 Business Security Risks

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1. Data Breaches: Businesses suffer most often from data breaches, making up 35% of total breaches. Medical and healthcare services are also frequent targets, accounting for 29.1% of breaches. Government and military make up 16.2%, banking, credit, and financial services account for 10.5%, and 9.2% of breaches occur in educational institutes.

Even if you protect your PC and keep your critical security patches and antivirus definitions updated, there is always the possibility that your bank or credit card company may be hacked, and your sensitive data sold for the purposes of identity theft.

2. Social Engineering: This is the act of manipulating people into taking certain actions or disclosing sensitive information. It’s essentially a fancier, more technical form of lying.

At 2010’s Defcon, a game was played in which contestants used the telephone to convince company employees to voluntarily cough up information they probably shouldn’t have. Of 135 “targets” of the social engineering “game,” 130 blurted out sensitive information. All five holdouts were women who gave up zero data to the social engineers.

3. Failure to Log Out: Web-based email services, social networking sites, and other websites that require login credentials generally provide an option to “Remember me,” “Keep me logged in,” or, “Save password,” and, once selected, will do so indefinitely. This feature often works with cookies, or codes stored in temp files. Some operating systems also include an “auto-complete” feature, which remembers usernames and passwords.

4. Inside Jobs: With millions losing jobs, there are many opportunities for an insider to plug in a thumb drive and steal client data or other proprietary information. Networks are like candy bars, hard on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Insiders who fear layoffs may be easily tempted to use their access to profit while they have the chance.

5. Fraudulent Accounts: Many businesses lay claim to thousands or millions of members or clients who have access to web-based accounts. No matter the nature of the business, social network, dating site, gaming site, or even bank or retailer, some percentage of the accounts are ongoing instigators and repositories for fraud. Troublemaker accounts infect the overall stability of any organization, and flushing them out is essential.

One anti-fraud service getting lots of attention for protecting online businesses from crime and abuse is ReputationManager 360 by iovation Inc. The service is used by hundreds of online businesses to prevent fraud by deeply analyzing the computer, smartphone, or tablet connecting to their online properties.

Robert Siciliano, personal security and identity theft expert contributor to iovation, discusses scammers and thieves on The Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch. (Disclosures)