In a new report, Hacking the Human OS, McAfee (owned by Intel) security researchers Raj Samani and Charles McFarland found that, increasingly, hackers are using social engineering techniques to manipulate their victims and coerce them into making poor decisions. This is effective in government agencies as well as private sector businesses.Intel describes social engineering as the deliberate application of deceitful techniques designed to manipulate someone into divulging information or performing actions that may result in the release of that information.
The report found:
Two-thirds of the world’s email is now spam aiming to extort information and money.
- A sharp increase of malicious phishing emails has resulted in more than 30 million suspect URLs recorded by McAfee Labs;
- 20 percent of attacks involve hackers using seemingly benign, bogus websites to deliver vicious malware into their targets; and
- Bogus emails are another effective form of social engineering, as 18 percent of users will unwittingly click a link in a phishing email.
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Related Pages: Social Engineering
