The Future of Social Engineering: You As The Good Human Hacker!

Throughout recorded human history, people have figured out how to use the latest “technology” to scam, con or hack others for their own benefit. William Chaloner (1650–1699): Serial counterfeiter and confidence trickster proven guilty by Sir Isaac Newton. Gregor MacGregor (1786–1845): Scottish con man who tried to attract investment and settlers for the non-existent country of Poyais. Cassie Chadwick (1857–1907): Canadian who defrauded banks out of millions by pretending to be the illegitimate daughter and heir of Andrew Carnegie. Joseph Weil (1875–1976): Chicago’s infamous Yellow Kid posed as bank presidents, inventors, millionaires, and scientists. “I have played more roles in real life than the average actor ever dreamed of.” Frank Abagnale, Jr. (born 1948): U.S. check forger and impostor turned FBI consultant, who impersonated a PanAm airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer, and a teacher to illegally make over $2.5 million. The 2002 movie Catch Me If You Can is based on his autobiography. Is there a term for this? Yup. Social engineering is the psychological manipulation of a person by a malicious attacker/s into performing actions or divulging confidential information for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or system access. It differs from a traditional “con” when it is one of many steps in a complex scheme. Social engineering techniques are based on specific attributes of human decision-making known as cognitive biases, aka “bugs in the human hardware” that are exploited to create attack techniques. Did you know that you risk being hacked when you use the forgot password function on websites that require login? An improperly secured password-recovery system can grant a malicious attacker full access to your account, and lock you out. The good news: Social engineering as a force for good can be in your future — to help you regain your confidence and control. When you use human hacking for good, you can become more empathetic, generous and kind, and leave people feeling better for having met you, says master hacker and social engineering pioneer and author Christopher Hadnagy, who is on this panel. We’ll ask Chris Hadnagy, Ryan MacDougall, Maxie Reynolds and Shane McCombs for their take on The Future of Social Engineering: You As The Good Human Hacker!