What type of attack is pretexting?

What type of attack is pretexting?

Pretexting is an attack in which the attacker creates a scenario to try and convince the victim to give up valuable information, such as a password.

Is pretexting a type of phishing?

Phishing is a separate category from pretexting, but these can be combined—phishing attempts often leverage a pretexting scenario. Pretexting increases the chances of a phishing attempt being successful, for example, if target employees believe they are talking to a contractor or employer.

What is a pretexting method?

Pretexting is a type of social engineering attack that involves a situation, or pretext, created by an attacker in order to lure a victim into a vulnerable situation and to trick them into giving private information, specifically information that the victim would typically not give outside the context of the pretext.

What is pretexting provide an example?

Send me your phone number. Because of the prevalence of business email compromise, many businesses require employees to validate wire transfer and other financial transaction requests by phone. This example of pretexting sets the victim up for such a phone conversation with the hacker.

What are the types of social engineering attacks?

The following are the five most common forms of digital social engineering assaults.

• Baiting. As its name implies, baiting attacks use a false promise to pique a victim’s greed or curiosity.
• Scareware. Scareware involves victims being bombarded with false alarms and fictitious threats.
• Pretexting.
• Phishing.
• Spear phishing.

Is pretexting a criminal offense?

Falsely pretending to be an officer or employer acting under the authority of the United States or any U.S. department or agency is illegal.

What is social engineering and its types?

Social engineering is a manipulation technique that exploits human error to gain private information, access, or valuables. In cybercrime, these “human hacking” scams tend to lure unsuspecting users into exposing data, spreading malware infections, or giving access to restricted systems.

Is pretexting illegal?

The Law. Federal statute explicitly outlaws pretexting to obtain financial information or telephone records. Prosecutors also use other federal laws to stop pretexting used for criminal purposes. Financial data.

What is the types of social engineering?

Social engineering is a term that encompasses a broad spectrum of malicious activity. For the purposes of this article, let’s focus on the five most common attack types that social engineers use to target their victims. These are phishing, pretexting, baiting, quid pro quo, and tailgating.