{"id":24896,"date":"2015-08-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/nohacked-how-to-recognise-and-protect-yourself-against-social-engineering\/"},"modified":"2015-08-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T00:00:00","slug":"nohacked-how-to-recognise-and-protect-yourself-against-social-engineering","status":"publish","type":"ar_kb","link":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/google-bilgi-bankasi\/nohacked-how-to-recognise-and-protect-yourself-against-social-engineering\/","title":{"rendered":"#NoHacked: How to recognise and protect yourself against social engineering"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, August 03, 2015<\/p>\n

\n Today in our #NoHacked campaign, we’ll be talking about social engineering. Follow along with
\n discussions on Twitter<\/a> and
\n Google+<\/a>
\n using the #nohacked hashtag.
\n (Part 1<\/a>)\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n If you’ve spent some time on the web, you have more than likely encountered some form of
\n social engineering<\/a>.
\n Social engineering attempts to extract confidential information from you by manipulating or
\n tricking you in some way.\n<\/p>\n

Phishing<\/h2>\n

\n You might be familiar with phishing, one of the most common forms of social engineering. Phishing
\n sites and emails mimic legitimate sites and trick you into entering confidential information like
\n your username and password into these sites. A
\n recent study from Google<\/a>
\n found that some phishing sites can trick victims 45% of the time! Once a phishing site has your
\n information, the information will either be sold or be used to manipulate your accounts.\n<\/p>\n

Other Forms of Social Engineering<\/h2>\n

\n As a site owner, phishing isn’t the only form of social engineering that you need to watch out
\n for. One other form of social engineering comes from the software and tools used on your site. If
\n you download or use any
\n Content Management System<\/a>
\n (CMS), plug-ins, or add-ons, make sure that they come from reputable sources like directly from
\n the developer’s site. Software from non-reputable sites can contain malicious exploits that allow
\n hackers to gain access to your site.\n<\/p>\n

\n For example, Webmaster Wanda was recently hired by Brandon’s Pet Palace to help create a site.
\n After sketching some designs, Wanda starts compiling the software she needs to build the site.
\n However, she finds out that Photo Frame Beautifier, one of her favorite plug-ins, has been taken
\n off the official CMS plug-in site and that the developer has decided to stop supporting the
\n plug-in. She does a quick search and finds a site that offers an archive of old plug-ins. She
\n downloads the plug-in and uses it to finish the site. Two months later, a notification in Search
\n Console notifies Wanda that her client’s site has been hacked. She quickly scrambles to fix the
\n hacked content and finds the source of the compromise. It turns out the Photo Frame Beautifier
\n plug-in was modified by a third party to allow malicious parties to access the site. She removed
\n the plug-in, fixed the hacked content, secured her site from future attacks, and filed a
\n reconsideration request in Search Console. As you can see, an inadvertent oversight by Wanda led
\n to her client’s site being compromised.\n<\/p>\n

Protecting Yourself from Social Engineering Attacks<\/h2>\n

\n Social engineering is effective because it’s not obvious that there’s something wrong with what
\n you’re doing. However, there are a few basic things you can do protect yourself from social
\n engineering.\n<\/p>\n