Re: Social Engineering

[Joshua <joshua.broussard () gmail com>]

Social Engineering is a human flaw, not a system flaw. As far as what 
products minimize/prevent social engineering - The only thing that can 
really help is training. There are many (read: thousands) companies that 
provide personnel training services.

As you specifically mention Mitnick, you obviously are familiar with his 
particular texts on the subject. I recommend that you start there. 
Research his company, visit some sites like astalavista.com, etc... You 
can find psudo-underground texts walking you through some of the finer 
points of social engineering there.

As to programs that tell you if a particular person works at a 
particular company - that is up to the company to install, and instruct 
the employees to use. Most companies have a central employee listing 
available in some for to current employees. I would guess something like 
1:10^-5 employees actually use this kind of resource in daily operations 
to combat social engineering.

Cheers,
Joshua

coder wrote:

> Hello everyone,
>
> I am currently planning on writting a thesis on social engineering, I have
> been fascinated with this subject since I watched Hackers 2/Takedown and
> read Kevin Mitnick's book.
>
> Now before I fully take on this idea, what products currently exist to
> minimize/prevent social engineering? If anyone saw Hackers 2/Takedown,
> Tsutomu Shimomura used a program that could tell him if the person on the
> phone actually exists in a company, does this sort of software exist?
>
> Sorry, if this is in the wrong mailing list, but I didn't see a "Social
> Engineering" mail list ;)
>
> Thanks
>
> ~Davie Elliott
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> EARN A MASTER OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION ASSURANCE - ONLINE
> The Norwich University program offers unparalleled Infosec management 
> education and the case study affords you unmatched consulting experience. 
> Tailor your education to your own professional goals with degree 
> customizations including Emergency Management, Business Continuity Planning, 
> Computer Emergency Response Teams, and Digital Investigations. 
>
> http://www.msia.norwich.edu/secfocus
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>  


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EARN A MASTER OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION ASSURANCE - ONLINE
The Norwich University program offers unparalleled Infosec management 
education and the case study affords you unmatched consulting experience. 
Tailor your education to your own professional goals with degree 
customizations including Emergency Management, Business Continuity Planning, 
Computer Emergency Response Teams, and Digital Investigations. 

http://www.msia.norwich.edu/secfocus
----------------------------------------------------------------------------