I recently listened to the audio book “Ghost in the Wires” written by infamous hacker Kevin Mitnick. Although I would not approve of his activity, I was very interested in his  Phreaking and Social Engineering skills.

Growing up in the investigations industry in the 80’s and 90’s, social engineering was second nature. We did not have the vast databases available today, so we relied heavily on human interaction for information. Today this skill is very much in play; however, social engineering is increasingly being adapted by criminals, rather than colleagues. My recent trip to the hacker conference DefCon in Vegas reaffirmed this. Attending seminars on this very subject, were thousands of hacker types, several who were likely criminal masterminds. I watched as they jotted down notes and laughed at the ease of tricking everyday folks into handing over their personal details.

Good tips on this subject can be found in today’s blog post at Lifehacker.com titled “How Can I Protect Against Social Engineering Hacks?” It’s worth a look.

Keep following those virtual breadcrumbs. ~ The Hi-Tech P.I.