Hadnagy - Social engineering: the art of human hacking

Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking

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Copyright 2011 by Christopher Hadnagy

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-0-470-63953-5

ISBN: 978-1-118-02801-8 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-02971-8 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-02974-9 (ebk)

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To my beautiful wife and my wonderful family; without you this would not have been possible. Mati, there are no words to describe the gratitude I feel for what you have done.

About the Author

Christopher Hadnagy is the lead developer of www.social-engineer.org , the worlds first social engineering framework. In more than 14 years of security and IT activity, he has partnered with the team at www.backtrack-linux.org and worked on a wide variety of security projects. He also serves as trainer and lead social engineer for Offensive Securitys penetration testing team.

About the Technical Editor

Jim OGorman is a professional penetration tester and social engineering auditor with more than 14 years of experience working for companies ranging from small ISPs to Fortune 100 corporations. Jim is co-trainer of the Offensive Security Advanced Windows Exploitation class, one of the most difficult exploit development classes available. A founding member of www.social-engineer.org , Jim is an authority on educating the public about social engineering threats.

Credits

Executive Editor

Carol Long

Project Editor

Brian Herrmann

Technical Editor

Jim OGorman

Production Editor

Kathleen Wisor

Copy Editor

Paula Lowell

Editorial Director

Robyn B. Siesky

Editorial Manager

Mary Beth Wakefield

Freelancer Editorial Manager

Rosemarie Graham

Marketing Manager

Ashley Zurcher

Production Manager

Tim Tate

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Richard Swadley

Vice President and Executive Publisher

Barry Pruett

Associate Publisher

Jim Minatel

Project Coordinator, Cover

Lynsey Stanford

Compositor

Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Proofreader

Jen Larsen, Word One New York

Indexer

Johnna VanHoose Dinse

Cover Image

Digital Vision/Getty Images

Cover Designer

Ryan Sneed

Foreword

Security is a puzzle with two sides. From the inside, we look for a sense of comfort and assurance. From the outside, thieves, hackers, and vandals are looking for gaps. Most of us believe our homes are safe until one day, we find ourselves locked out. Suddenly, our perspective shifts and weaknesses are easily found.

To completely understand any kind of security it is essential to step outside of the fence, in essence locking ourselves out, and start looking for other ways in. The problem is that most of us are blinded to potential problems by our own confidence or our belief that strong locks, thick doors, a high-end security system, and a guard dog are more than enough to keep most people at bay.

Im not most people. In the last ten years I have pulled more cons and scams than anyone in history. Ive beaten casinos, faked sports events, fixed auctions, talked people out of their dearest possessions, and walked right past seemingly unbeatable levels of security.

I have made a living exposing the methods of thieves, liars, crooks, and con men on a hit TV show called The Real Hustle . If Id been a real criminal I would probably be rich, famous, or deadprobably all three. I have used a lifetime of research into all forms of deception to teach the public just how vulnerable they really are.

Each week, along with Alexis Conran, I pull real scams on real people who have no idea they are being ripped off. Using hidden cameras, we show the audience at home what is possible so they can recognize the same scam.

This unusual career has resulted in a unique understanding of how criminals think. Ive become a sheep in wolves clothing. Ive learned that, no matter how impossible something might seem, theres almost always a clever, unexpected way to solve the problem.

An example of this is when I offered to show how easy it would be to not only steal a womans purse, but also to get her to tell me the PIN to her ATM or credit cards. The BBC didnt think it was possible to accomplish this. When we presented this as an item for The Real Hustle , the BBC commissioner wrote will never happen beside it and sent it back. We knew it was entirely possible because different versions of the same scam had been reported, where victims of theft were talked into revealing their PINs in several clever scams around the UK. We took elements from different scams to illustrate exactly how someone might be duped into giving someone else complete access to their bank account.