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The movie "Missing" aired on Netflix earlier this year and stars not one, but a few of our favs; Storm Reid, Nia Long, Ken Leung, and Megan Suri. June (Storm) is a teenager who is excited for her mother (Nia) and her new boyfriend (Ken) to leave for a vacation so she can finally have some freedom. All is well until her mother and boyfriend don't return from their trip without any word. June being the tech-savvy teen that she is, takes the investigation into her mother's disappearance into her own hands. Note- there are no spoilers, this is just about the techniques our girl uses to gain information.
Throughout the movie we see June employ social engineering tactics to gain access to vital information, and it works. If June can do it, imagine who else can. In the world of cybersecurity, social engineering is a devious technique used by individuals to manipulate and deceive others into divulging sensitive information. Haven't we all done this on some kind of scale?
Social engineering revolves around human psychology and the art of deception. June uses charm, persuasion, and manipulation to exploit her targets' trust and emotions. She presents herself as friendly, approachable, and harmless, allowing her to establish rapport and extract information without raising suspicion.
Pretexting is a common social engineering tactic, wherein the attacker creates a fabricated scenario to obtain information. June employs pretexting to fabricate plausible scenarios that elicit responses from unsuspecting individuals. By crafting compelling stories and posing as someone with a legitimate reason to request information, she successfully gains access to otherwise confidential data.
We see June fabricate a scenario where she pretends to be a concerned friend her mother's boyfriend Alex. She approaches his colleagues, expressing worry about his well-being and inquiring about his recent activities. June portrays herself as a friend and in turn gains information about Alex's whereabouts and intentions, generating new leads to follow.
Impersonation is another tactic June utilizes. She leverages her ability to assume false identities to infiltrate social networks and gain trust within her targets' circles. By masquerading as someone else, she gains access to a treasure trove of personal information, further enhancing her manipulation tactics.
June assumed the identity of a journalist to gain access to a secure area and convinced the security personnel that she was there for an interview. June took full advantage of their trust in the media to bypass physical barriers and gain entry to a restricted area.
June employs spear phishing techniques to deceive her targets into revealing personal or sensitive information. She customizes her messages to appear as if they come from trusted sources, luring her victims into clicking malicious links or providing login credentials. Through spear phishing, she gains unauthorized access to valuable digital details.
June was able to send Alex a seemingly innocuous email that contained a malicious link with malware, that then gave her access to his digital life including personal information and correspondence.
June utilizes OSINT techniques to gather as much information as possible about Alex and her mother including personal information like date of birth, mother's maiden name, and school names to aid in an e-mail password recovery attempt. It was successful and June was able to gather a wealth of information about Alex including women he may have deceived.
Social media has the ability to give away personal and sensitive information such as habits, location, community, ideology, and more that can turn into meaningful leads.
June was also able to hack her mother's email account by using various password patterns. Once she was able to crack the passwords, she was able to use those passwords to gain access to other accounts such as credit cards given the passwords were re-used across multiple accounts.
June was able to understand that emotions can cloud judgment and make individuals susceptible to manipulation. In the movie, she skillfully exploits emotions such as fear, sympathy, and curiosity to extract sensitive details from her victims. By preying on vulnerable emotions, she gains a significant advantage in her social engineering endeavors.
Trust is the foundation of successful social engineering, and June expertly builds trust with her targets through consistent interactions and a friendly demeanor. By fostering a sense of trustworthiness, she encourages her victims to share information that they otherwise might not disclose.
As we reflect on the movie "Missing" and the social engineering tactics employed by June, we are reminded of the real-world threats posed by such manipulative techniques. In our increasingly connected digital landscape, awareness and education are crucial in guarding against social engineering attacks. By staying informed, cautious, and questioning the legitimacy of information requests, we can fortify our defenses and protect ourselves from falling victim to these insidious tactics. In the realm of social engineering, vigilance is the first line of defense. If something doesn't look or feel right, it probably isn't.
Some key takeaways and lessons learned we can practice in our daily habits:
Stay Safe!
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