Psychological Subversion of Information Systems

Psychological subversion—or social engineering, as it is sometimes called—is a euphemism for an age-old game: the con; the scam; the art of convincing someone to give up something they would otherwise refuse to give up. When access to your computer systems or networks is the object of the con, the results can be devastating. This is a game that can be easily played by almost anyone. When played by an individual or group skilled in the use of information technology, it poses a very real and potent threat. People are swindled out of significant personal possessions every day; by comparison, obtaining the password for a systems account from an unsuspecting operator or user is trivial. Armed with this information, the attacker has only to access the system and exploit any internal weaknesses; both of these tasks are usually quite simple and straightforward.