Social Engineering: The Neglected Human Factor for Information Security Management

Xin Luo, Richard Brody, Alessandro Seazzu and Stephen Burd
Additional contact information
Xin Luo: The University of New Mexico, USA
Richard Brody: The University of New Mexico, USA
Alessandro Seazzu: The University of New Mexico, USA
Stephen Burd: The University of New Mexico, USA

Information Resources Management Journal (IRMJ), 2011, vol. 24, issue 3, 1-8

Abstract: Effective information systems security management combines technological measures and managerial efforts. Although various technical means have been employed to cope with security threats, human factors have been comparatively neglected. This article examines human factors that can lead to social engineering intrusions. Social engineering is a technique used by malicious attackers to gain access to desired information by exploiting the flaws in human logic known as cognitive biases. Social engineering is a potential threat to information security and should be considered equally important to its technological counterparts. This article unveils various social engineering attacks and their leading human factors, and discusses several ways to defend against social engineering: education, training, procedure, and policy. The authors further introduce possible countermeasures for social engineering attacks. Future analysis is also presented.

Date: 2011
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://services.igi-global.com/resolvedoi/resolve. ... 4018/irmj.2011070101 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:igg:rmj000:v:24:y:2011:i:3:p:1-8

Access Statistics for this article

Information Resources Management Journal (IRMJ) is currently edited by George Kelley

More articles in Information Resources Management Journal (IRMJ) from IGI Global
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Journal Editor ().