Hacking: The Next Generation

Summary

In the past, system administrators have relied on perimeter-based security controls to alert them to potential attacks on their networks. However, the techniques that attackers can use during reconnaissance will not trigger any such perimeter- or network-based controls.

Due to the popularity of social applications today, it has become difficult for any organization to keep track of or police the information employees may put out there. The information-collection avenues for attackers are not limited to social applications, but include job postings, resumés, and even simple Google searches.

The crafty attackers are using, and will continue to use, the types of techniques presented in this chapter to gain substantial amounts of data about their potential victims. As you saw in this chapter, the techniques that attackers leverage today often include components of social engineering that give the attempts a greater impact and make them extremely hard to detect.