Josh Glover wrote, On 12/06/08 01:19:
> 2008/6/12 Cian Davis <davisc at skynet.ie>:
>>>> Timothy Murphy wrote:
>>>>>>> But now I google for it I see it is in common use
>>> among ILUG-like people for what oldsters like me call "con artists".
>>>>> And the people taken in by most of it are "retards"
>>>> I beg to differ, and would even go so far to say that if this is your
> belief, you don't really understand what social engineering is.
In fairness, you snipped the 3rd line of my reply that said "On a
serious note..."
Yes there are some elaborate and believable social engineering stunts
out there.
However, a huge majority of the ones disseminated over the internet are
far from elaborate. People who think they've won the "international
lotto" or can share in $10 million from some dead Nigerian banker really
are thick.
The next level up (The "please reset your online banking access" and
"you've received a complaint on eBay") are a little bit more
sophisticated but most people with 2 brain cells should be able to spot
them with a little bit of education.
It should be difficult to launch a successful social engineering stunt
purely over the Internet. A little bit of education and a healthy dose
of "If it seems too good to be true, it is" would kill a lot fo them
straight off.
Cian
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