Sessione plenaria: "Italian Security Summit: The Future of Social Engineering - Keynote Speaker: Sharon Conheady"

ore 9.00 - 10.30

 

Social engineering is hitting the headlines more than ever. Social
engineers are using deception and trickery to gain unauthorised access to
sensitive resources from computer networks to buildings.  As computer
security becomes more sophisticated, hackers are combining their technical
expertise with social engineering to gain access to IT infrastructures and
critical information. It can often be easier and quicker to target the end
user than using technical hacking techniques.  When you combine both social
engineering and traditional hacking techniques, you have a  very dangerous attack indeed.
Social engineering attacks can have disastrous consequences, both
financially and reputationally.  Organisations can have the best technical
security controls in the world, from the most expensive firewall to the most
sophisticated biometrics, but they will not protect against a social
engineering attack.  In any security programme people are the weakest link.
So what’s next on the social engineering agenda?  What are the emerging
trends and what social engineering techniques might we expect see in future?
In this talk, I will give an overview of the types of social engineering
attacks people have used throughout the ages, from tricks used by the
classic conmen of the past to the phishing attacks that are at an all time
high, and the proliferation of social networking and how useful this is to
social engineers. I will describe some of the new social engineering
techniques and trends that are emerging and discuss war stories from my
experience of social engineering and describe techniques I have used to gain access to sensitive information.
Social engineering poses a great threat to IT security. The key to
preventing social engineering attacks from being successful lies in
education and awareness. This talk will promote social engineering
awareness amongst the audience and give an insight into the techniques and
methods used by real social engineers.