Swedish Research Council on more effective identity protections

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: John Bosley <jandpbosley () verizon net>
Date: January 16, 2009 2:26:14 PM EST
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Swedish Research Council on more effective identity protections

Hi Dave--

For IP if you wish; nice tie-in to the Facebook hack that was posted.  
I'm sending the abstract from the ACM TechNews as the Swedish website  
requires (misguidedly, I think) registration in order to access the  
full press release,

Best,

John Bosley

How We Are Tricked Into Giving Away Our Personal Information
Swedish Research Council (01/15/09)

Organizations are poorly equipped to prevent attacks that target human  
error and weaknesses, says Stockholm University's Marcus Nohlberg, who  
says social engineering attacks have received little attention from  
researchers. Nohlberg's research has led to a more thorough  
understanding of the methods attackers use and what makes people and  
organizations vulnerable. He says the biggest problem is that  
information and proper training is not an effective deterrent. "There  
will always be a small group of people who do not do as they were  
taught," Nohlberg says. "The best thing is practical training, and  
it's probable that organizations will need to start running internal  
checks where they in fact create fictitious attacks in order to  
identify weaknesses." Social engineering is more expensive to the  
attacker, as it requires commitment and time, but software and  
technologies already exist that can interact with people  
automatically. Nohlberg warns of a time when programs target victims  
through digital forums such as Facebook, making social engineering  
attacks as easy and inexpensive as sending spam.
View Full Article | Return to Headlines




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