Social Engineering – when charming crooks talk to helpful users [Security SOS Week]

Every day this week, Sophos’s top security gurus will be stepping up to the microphone to share their expertise with you, free of charge.

In each 30-minute webinar, Naked Security’s very own Paul Ducklin will be interviewing our experts to help you cut through the jargon and understand the real issues in computer security today.

Each webinar will take place at 2pm UK time (14:00 UTC), and will consist of about 20 minutes of live interview, followed by 10 minutes of questions and answers.

Today’s webinar: Social Engineering – when charming crooks talk to helpful users

Today, Paul Ducklin is talking to Ross McKerchar, Sophos’s Global IT Security Manager.

Mention “social engineering” and many people think of 1990s phone-hacker Kevin Mitnick. With the gift of the gab, he was able to call into companies and sweet-talk staff into giving away secrets that they knew they weren’t supposed to reveal.

These days, of course, a social engineer can research you on Facebook and LinkedIn; read up about your company on its website; and then target you via email, instant messaging, online surveys… and, just like Mitnick, by phone, for that personal touch.

Worse still, many of the aspects of a so-called “targeted attack” like this can be automated, and repeated on colleague after colleague until someone crumbles.

Ross McKerchar will take you into the murky world of targeted attacks, and show you how to build defences that will prevent one well-meaning employee from giving away the keys to the castle.

Register now!