What is a pretexting attack?

What is a pretexting attack?

Pretexting is an attack in which the attacker creates a scenario to try and convince the victim to give up valuable information, such as a password.

What's the difference between pretexting and phishing?

Phishing is the familiar attack usually sent via email that entices end users to click on a malicious link or attachment. ... Pretexting can involve impersonating executives as part of a business email compromise (BEC) attack.

How do hackers use pretexting?

Pretexting is a type of social engineering attack that involves a situation, or pretext, created by an attacker in order to lure a victim into a vulnerable situation and to trick them into giving private information, specifically information that the victim would typically not give outside the context of the pretext.

What are signs of pretext calling?

When the pretexter has the information he wants, he uses it to call companies with whom you do business. He pretends to be you or someone with authorized access to your account. He might claim that he's forgotten his account number or needs information about his account history.

How can pretexting be prevented?

How to prevent pretexting. Every member of staff is responsible for information security in their organisation. ... Regular staff awareness training can break users' bad habits and increase their vigilance to reduce your organisation's risk of attack.

Is pretexting illegal?

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 makes it illegal to obtain another person's financial information using pretexting. ... It is also unlawful to use forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen documents to obtain such information.

What is the term human firewall?

A group of people in an organisation that works towards detecting cyber attacks such as ransomware or phishing attacks that may bypass your computer security system are known as a human firewall.

What weakness does social engineering exploit?

They are called “social engineers” because they exploit the one weakness that is found in every organization: human psychology. Using phone calls and other media, these attackers trick people into handing over access to the organization's sensitive information.

Why is pretexting bad?

Pretexting can catch many people off guard and can lead to a wide range of legal conflicts and disputes. You may wish to hire a criminal lawyer if you feel that you have been affected by a pretexting scheme.

What is clone phishing?

A clone phishing attack uses a legitimate or previously sent email that contains attachments or links. The clone is a near copy to the original where the attachments or links are replaced with malware or a virus.

What is the meaning of pretexting?

• Definition of pretexting. : the practice of presenting oneself as someone else in order to obtain private information.

What is pretexting in social engineering?

• Pretexting definition Pretexting is form of social engineering in which an attacker tries to convince a victim to give up valuable information or access to a service or system. The distinguishing feature of this kind of attack is that the scam artists comes up with a story — or pretext — in order to fool the victim.

What is pretexting in identity theft?

• Pretexting. An elaborate lie, it most often involves some prior research or setup and the use of this information for impersonation ( e.g., date of birth, Social Security number, last bill amount) to establish legitimacy in the mind of the target.

What is pretexting in cyber security?

• In cybersecurity, pretexting can be considered one of the earliest stages of evolution for social engineering. For example, while the social engineering attack known as phishing relies on modern items such as credit cards and mainly occurs in the electronic space, pretexting was and can be implemented without technology.