Re: Testing the user community

["Thor (Hammer of God)" <thor () hammerofgod com>]

That's the real point-- while there are probably some good things that may
come of it (the "active user education" adaptation Gadi spoke of) there are
far too many things that could (and often will) go wrong.  And like I said
before, even if things "go right" it is not a valid metric for success.  My
users know that I will never send them an executable attachment.  Ever.
That is "good education" for them.  If I were to engage in some internal
"test" of that by actually sending out executable code or mock viruses, it
will only serve to confuse them. I can see someone actually opening a virus
thinking it was a "test" of some sort just to see what it would do.

It just seems like a colossal waste of time when what an admin should be
doing is ensuring all users are not local admins, that decent
antivirus/malware applications are in place, that gateway/firewall products
are properly configured, and that you educate users in a positive manner
with proactive methods and not after-the-fact "bad dog" positioning. That's
what results in effective, robust security.

t


On 2/6/07 3:54 AM, "M.B.Jr." <marcio.barbado () gmail com> spoketh to all:

> actually, this aint new stuff.
> last year, London's financial district faced something similar:
> http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=147
>
> ... with some scary results.
>
> On 2/3/07, Gadi Evron <ge () linuxbox org> wrote:
> > On Fri, 2 Feb 2007, Thor (Hammer of God) wrote:
> > > Not withstanding the value of the other replies, the problem with this
> > > method is that the outcome doesn't really prove anything one way or the
> > > other.  If he sends a mock virus out and no one opens it, it doesn't mean
> > > that they won't open a real one that comes out the next day.  If they do
> > > open his, that doesn't mean they'll actually open a real one in the future.
> > >
> > >
> > > You can always prove that your users will do something stupid.  That's
> > > trivial.  If the goal is to actually improve the security posture of your
> > > userbase, then engage in continued user education - not waste your time
> > > trying to get them to open a virus.
> >
> > Look at it as "active user education".
> >
> > If you find out who always opens the attachments, or educate more and more
> > between different such "learning attacks", it is worth it.
> >
> > It's up to the organization to choose doing it, and just once is
> > pointless.
> >
> > > t
> > >
> > >
> > > On 2/1/07 6:55 AM, "Schanulleke" <schalulleke () gmail com> spoketh to all:
> > >
> > > > webmaster () absolutenetworks biz wrote:
> > > > > We all know our weak link but how do you identify just how weak they are?
> > > > > I
> > > > > think it's time to pen test my user community and have a couple ideas to
> > > > > gather
> > > > > statistics on just how nonaware they really are.
> > > > What is the point you are trying to make, what is the goal you are
> > > > trying to achieve?
> > > > > Maybe a simple phishing scam
> > > > > and bogus email with a fake virus attachment that emails me when it's
> > > > > opened
> > > > > so
> > > > > I can track how many folks actually opened it.  Has anyone ever done this
> > > > > before? I can't find any information about it on the web.. thoughts and
> > > > > ideas
> > > > > anybody?
> > > > It all has been done before for real. THere are plenty of real examples
> > > > out there. If you have AV check how often it is triggered. Or are you
> > > > really trying to prove that your users at 1d10ts?
> > > >
> > > > Frank
> > > >
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