A Taxonomy of Social Engineering Defense Mechanisms

Alharthi, Dalal; Hammad, Mahmoud; Regan, Amelia

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-39442-4_3

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Hence, social engineers aim to exploit the weakest link in a security structure by manipulating individuals and organizations to divulge valuable and sensitive data [1]. Social engineering attacks use many different techniques including, but not limited to, Business Email Compromise (BEC) and phishing in all its variations such as vishing (by voice), smishing (by SMS) and pharming (via malicious code) [2] [3]. According to [4], successful social engineering has an overwhelming negative impact on an organization such as data losses, financial losses, lowered employee morale and decreased customer loyalty.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To achieve (1) and (2), the authors designed, distributed, and analyzed a survey to investigate the incorporation level of SE-IPs in organizations. Then, considering the survey results as well previous work [2] [10], the paper developed a proposed model of SE-IPs that organizations can adopt. To summarize, the key contributions of this research are questionnaire to measure SE-IPs incorporation level in an organization, a customizable proposed model of formal SE-IPs that organizations can adopt, data analysis of 1523 responses from employees in various employment sectors, and available online dataset for researchers and practitioners in the field of cybersecurity to replicate or extend the work.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The authors earlier paper presented a taxonomy of the main target points of social engineers within organizations, which are people (employees), data, hardware, software, and networks [2]. The paper addressed the defense mechanisms for each of these target points as shown in Figure 1.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In light of [2] the authors conducted an experimental study which involved 791 participants, to measure employees' awareness of social engineering defense mechanisms [10]. That study revealed that only 47.5% of participants are aware of such mechanisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social Engineering Infosec Policies (SE-IPS)

Alharthi¹,

Regan²

2021

Computer Science &Amp; Information Technology (CS &Amp; IT)

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The sudden increase in employees working primarily or even exclusively at home has generated unique societal and economic circumstances which makes the protection of information assets a major problem for organizations. The application of security policies is essential for mitigating the risk of social engineering attacks. However, incorporating and enforcing successful security policies in an organization is not a straightforward task. To that end, this paper develops a model of Social Engineering InfoSec Policies (SE-IPs) and investigates the incorporation of those SE-IPs in organizations. This paper proposes a customizable model of SE-IPs that can be adopted by a wide variety of organizations. The authors designed and distributed a survey to measure the incorporation level of formal SE-IPs in organizations. After collecting and analyzing the data which included over fifteen hundred responses, the authors found that on average, organizations incorporated just over fifty percent of the identified formal Social Engineering InfoSec Policies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Social Engineering Infosec Policies (SE-IPS)

Alharthi¹,

Regan²

2021

Computer Science &Amp; Information Technology (CS &Amp; IT)

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Enhanced social engineering framework mitigating against social engineering attacks in higher education

Matyokurehwa

Rudhumbu

Gombiro

et al. 2022

Security and Privacy

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The purpose of this paper was to develop and validate an enhanced social engineering framework to mitigate against social engineering attacks. The study formulated a theoretical framework which was informed by the strengths and weaknesses of existing social engineering frameworks, the framework was also guided by the Dhillon's balanced control theory. The theoretical framework was validated by experts using the Delphi technique which comprised of three rounds. A sample of 25 experts from three higher education institutions which met the inclusion criteria were selected. The study was guided by the interpretivism philosophy to get a deep understanding of the phenomenon under study. The findings reveal that social engineering awareness, organizational security policy and Internet of Things (IOT) security succor in reducing social engineering attacks. The findings from this study will be utilized by decision makers in higher education sector to come up with engaging social engineering training programs, set up an organizational security policy and preclude IOT attacks to mitigate social engineering attacks in higher education. The study contributes to the field of social engineering with an enhanced social engineering framework that mitigate against social engineering attacks. The study adds to under-represented social engineering framework in higher education.

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Social Engineering Defense Mechanisms: A Taxonomy and a Survey of Employees’ Awareness Level

Alharthi

Regan

2020

Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing

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A Taxonomy of Social Engineering Defense Mechanisms

Cited by 11 publications

References 17 publications

Social Engineering Infosec Policies (SE-IPS)

Social Engineering Infosec Policies (SE-IPS)

Enhanced social engineering framework mitigating against social engineering attacks in higher education

Social Engineering Defense Mechanisms: A Taxonomy and a Survey of Employees’ Awareness Level

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