Jack Hacker wants to break into Brown Co.’s computers and obtain their secret double fudge cookie recipe. Jack calls Jane, an accountant at Brown Co., pretending to be an administrator from Brown Co. Jack tells Jane that there has been a problem with some accounts and asks her to tell him her password ‘just to double check our records’. Jane believes that Jack is really an administrator, and tells him her password. Jack now has a user name and password, and can access Brown Co.’s computers, to find the cookie recipe. This is an example of what kind of attack?
A.
Reverse Psychology
B.
Social Engineering
C.
Reverse Engineering
D.
Spoofing Identity
E.
Faking Identity
Explanation:
This is a typical case of pretexting. Pretexting is the act of creating and using an invented scenario (the pretext) to persuade a target to release information or perform an action and is usually done over the telephone.