SOCIAL ENGINEERING - ARE YOU SUSCEPTIBLE?

The term 'social engineering' can conjure up a variety of ideas, usually based around the concept of genetic tampering. However, when applied to IT security, it has its own implications and its own vocabulary.
Following interviews with known computer criminals, a list of approaches has been produced. These are designed to gather information without the target even realizing that they have parted with it. The attempts are often made on an opportune bases, with common locations for this sort of activity being planes, trains and pubs. The telephone is probably the major source of pre-meditated acts.