Easy Prey7 Juni 2023

The Science of Social Engineering with Chris Hadnagy

You may be shocked to know that master manipulators utilize special tactics to impact human behavior and emotions by more than just instilling a sense of urgency. The art of persuasion can be used for both good and evil. Today's guest is Chris Hadnagy. Chris is the author of five books on the topic of social engineering. He is a professor of social engineering at the University of Arizona as well as the CEO of Social Engineer LLC, the Innocent Lives Foundation, and the Institute for Social Engineering.

Show Notes:

[0:57] - Chris shares his background and how he found himself in the field of social engineering and understanding human decision making.
[2:38] - It is not the case that only stupid people fall for scams and phishing emails.
[4:04] - There is good social engineering and Chris gives some examples.
[5:47] - The release of oxytocin is researched to show that it is linked to trust.
[7:58] - You can have oxytocin and dopamine separately but together they build a bond.
[9:17] - Marketing and advertising land in the gray middle area of social engineering. Is it being used for good or bad?
[11:14] - It is important to look at things through the lens of purpose. What is the intent behind it?
[12:35] - All social engineering, good and bad, use the same principles. But malicious social engineering triggers different emotions, namely fear.
[14:37] - Preying on fear is one way people are socially engineered, but Chris gives an example of how a company as large as Toyota was impacted by the sense of urgency.
[17:12] - There are so many stories of social engineering that are extremely plausible and believable.
[21:04] - The trend now is to use social media data and information to target people for spear phishing.
[22:30] - If you feel any strong emotion after a request, it is a great time to pause and consider if you are being manipulated.
[24:21] - If you ever fall for something, don't let embarrassment make you sweep it under the rug.
[27:31] - The idea of an authority figure is a principle to remember, but it doesn't always work.
[30:10] - In some countries, fear of authority isn't present. But social engineers will look for the weaknesses to exploit in different environments.
[31:16] - Voice phishing is currently on the rise.
[33:21] - Chris shares about the uptick on LinkedIn requests that even targeted the US military.
[35:28] - Although we will see some good from AI, Chris has many concerns.
[37:33] - Chris describes some of the classes he teaches at the University of Arizona specifically about Social Engineering.
[39:17] - You can take classes online from Chris on Social-Engineer.com.
[40:21] - We need to understand social engineering to keep our children safe. Start having conversations early.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.

Links and Resources:

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(329)

Job Recruiter Scams

Job hunting is hard enough without having to stop and ask whether the recruiter in your inbox is even real. My guest today, Jay Jones, ran into that problem firsthand after being laid off in December ...

24 Juni 35min

Bail Bonds Scams

Getting a call that someone you love has been arrested is scary enough. Getting that call from someone who sounds official, knows just enough to seem credible, and says you have to send money right aw...

17 Juni 36min

Confessions of a Fraudster

Technology keeps changing, but many of the most effective scams still come down to something very human: trust. My guest today is Tony Sales, co-founder of We Fight Fincrime and Underworld TV. Tony ha...

10 Juni 54min

Personal Safety

Scams and safety threats don't always announce themselves. Sometimes they start quietly, with a moment of distraction, a strange feeling you ignore, or a situation that shifts just enough to test whet...

3 Juni 43min

Data For Sale

Everyday conveniences ask for tiny pieces of information all the time like a phone number at checkout, a zip code at the register, an email address for a receipt, or a loyalty account for a small disc...

27 Maj 43min

Exploiting Psychology

Scams are often explained as a failure of judgment, but the truth is far more human. People are not fooled because they are foolish. They are manipulated at the exact moment emotion overrides logic, w...

20 Maj 45min

Investment Traps

Investment losses can be confusing because they do not always tell the whole story. Sometimes money is lost because the market has changed. Other times, an investor was sold something they did not und...

13 Maj 47min

Elder Exploitation

Aging parents often rely on the people closest to them for help, but what happens when that help becomes a way to take control? For Charles Wallace, the warning signs started small. His mother's fridg...

6 Maj 39min