Definitions:
- Social Engineering: the act of tricking someone into divulging information or taking action, usually through technology. The idea behind this act is to take advantage of a potential victim’s natural tendencies and emotional reactions.
- Phishing: a cyber crime attack often used to steal user data, including login credentials and credit card numbers. It occurs when an attacker, masquerading as a trusted entity, tricks a victim into opening an email or instant message.
- IT has published a few articles on this subject explaining what you can do if you have received something suspicious to your Butler mailbox, or if your Butler account has been compromised. Below are a few links to those articles.
- If you would like to learn more about phishing in a group setting, IT also offers in person training presentations that can be requested by submitting a case.
- Imposter Scams: a form of criminal activity in which a scammer pretends to be someone you trust to convince you to send them money.
- Vishing: a form of criminal phone fraud, using social engineering over the telephone system to gain access to private, personal, and financial information for the purpose of financial reward.
- Smishing: also known as SMS phishing, this is a form of criminal activity using social engineering techniques to trick their victims into giving their private information via a text or SMS message.
- Qrljacking: (AKA Quick Response Code Login Jacking) is a social engineering attack vector capable of session hijacking affecting any application that relies on the "Login with QR code" feature as a secure way to login to accounts.
Resources:
Butler Provided Training:
Government Provided Information:
The Federal Trade Commission is a great source of information for each of these types of attacks. Following are links to their articles which provide helpful information if you would like to know what you can do to prevent these attacks or what to do if you have fallen victim to one.
FTC: How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams
FTC: How to Avoid Imposter Scams
FTC: Scammers Hide Harmful Links in QR Codes to Steal Your Information
FTC: Phone Scams
FTC: Text Message Spam
The Federal Bureau of Investigation also provides information on Common Scams and Crimes, which can be located at this site.
Related Articles:
How to Report a Suspicious/Phishing Email
What do I do if my account is compromised? What if I click on a phishing email?
How can I tell if an email is real/legitimate/safe? Is it phishing/spam? What should I do?
Unwanted Texts (SMS) Messages
