How I Won The Defcon Social Engineering CTF

With a slew of new contestants scouring the Internet collecting data for this years Social-Engineer.Org SECTF at Defcon 19 we thought we would give them a little help. Last years winner, known as phat32, wrote an article about the skills he needed to overcome all the obstacles and become the first ever winner of the Social-Engineer.Org SECTF and the winner of the game changing black badge.....……

Creepy Tools for Social Engineers and Information Gathering

UPDATE: As of 2013 BackTrack is now Kali Linux https://www.kali.org/ This website may also be useful. It covers the best (and worst) virtual private networks/VPNs for Linux users. https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/best-vpn-for-linux/ Gelocation has been a hot topic in the social engineering world for quite some time. As a social engineer it is important to be able to profile…

What A Social Engineer Can Learn from SourceCon

Gather around while I tell you an interesting story. About six months ago or so I get an email from an interesting woman named Amybeth. She tells me she works in this industry called "Sourcing" and helps run a conference called SourceCon. She wanted to know if I was interested in coming to talk to their group about how social engineers gather information. First I was very curious what sourcing…

Characteristics of an Effective and Successful Social Engineer

It was only a short while ago that we asked for anyone interested to send us information they want to share with the world on the topic of becoming a better social engineer. We were put in contact with an excellent resource who has years of experience in social engineering.  Robin Dreeke, a 1992 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and former US Marine Corps Officer, has been studying…

Cyber Stalking and Smart Phones – Making Social Engineering Easier

It seems that every month we are tweeting, blogging or writing in our newsletter something about the amazing world of social media. Something just came across our desks that will really blow your mind. All about how smart phones are a cyber stalking dream tool. What if I told you that there was a way to create a profile on you that could reveal • Where you live • Who else lives there • Your…

Social-Engineer Breaks a DEF CON Record

DEF CON is over and after the long treks home we take some time to review the past few days and there is so much to say it seems like I have to write a book to get it all out. Most of it can be summed up by saying, "Security Through Education." The Social-Engineer.Org CTF took off with a bang that I think was heard around the world. We have counted just a tad under 100 articles that have been…

Social Engineering and Facebooks Privacy Rules

Social Engineers have a field day when it comes to any social media site that is talking about security. If you read the news at all, you have heard about Facebook's recent barrage of security announcements and the feelings many have on their "security".  Social Engineering attacks are on the increase in the social media world and this is a serious problem. Many have claimed that Facebook is…

How To Prevent Social Engineering Attacks by Choosing the Right Security Auditor

It is logical that with all the information we release on prevention of social engineering attacks, employee deception, fraud and identity theft we would receive questions on how to choose a good auditor. Requests have been coming in to have us perform social engineering audits and how to choose a good auditor. I think what we need to discuss first is the different types of social engineering…