Using Perl LWP Library scripting and data harvesting tools, data is quickly collected, aggregated and used to launch a phishing attack with a stunning success rate of 72%. The rapid nature of how this attack was planned and executed shows how lethal from a privacy standpoint phishing can be when based on social network-based data. There is an implied higher level of trust with any e-mail originating from social networks, as it is assumed it is from friends and those a respondent or test subject trusted. The impersonation or spoofing of e-mail addresses also made the communications all the more contextual and believable, a key trait of successful phishing programs. More education is definitely needed, in addition to more effective approaches to blocking personal information on social networks as well. All of these deterrents are secondary to strong education on the threats of phishing however.
The use of images and their relative selection has shown to be highly effective in lab tests yet only somewhat effective in field test work done by Chiasson, Biddle and Oorschot. What is needed is an approach to biometrics that Lenovo and others are using on their laptops, and touch-sensitive screens are doing today on sensitive information in service industries including hotels. The best authentication technologies however take the ease and convenience of access and combined it with the unique identities of the people needing access to the information. The greater the security access protocol or technique and the more tightly it is aligned to the person at a biometric level,…
