Chapter 11 shows more of the technical side of social engineering. Here we see that there is sometimes a lot more involved in these schemes than just being friendly on the phone. The first example showed how one person was able to mess around with phone lines so he was able to talk to a partner of his in jail. By combining extensive knowledge of phone companies with social engineering skills he found out what area of the prison his friend was in, and arranged a time they could talk privately on the phone. To me if this guy was really that good he would have tricked the guards into letting his friend go free!
The chapter continues with an explanation of how computer hackers were able to once again combine social engineering tactics with knowledge of hacking to find valuable information on a video game. While someone who possesses skills in one specific area can be effective, the well rounded social engineer (quick thinking on the phone as well as strong technically) is truly hard to stop. When you combine the techniques we learned about in previous chapters (name dropping, using lingo) with the skills that were talked about in chapter 11 (hacking, phone skills) the social engineer becomes much more effective.
2 comments:
This con seemed pretty involved. There were a lot of steps in order just to get to talk to his partner. And then he had another con to plan in order to get money for a lawyer! Again, wouldn't it just be simpler to put your skills to use in a legitimate business?
It seems like it would be pretty easy to take advantage of gullible people (you hear about cons being successful in cases that just seem incredible, how could anyone fall for that?) But Eric makes a good point about the well-rounded ones, once they can combine those skills suddenly even people who are ordinarily pretty savy can fall prey.
good point about "if the guy as really good he would have tricked the guards into letting his friend go free" I didnt think about that when i was reading this chapter
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