Privacy Means Profit: Prevent Identity Theft and Secure You and Your Bottom Line

Chapter 9. The Sixth Mind-Set: Interrogate the Enemy

Spies often get information simply by asking for it. Unfortunately, it really is that simple. Fortunately, the same technique—asking the right questions—can stop them in their tracks.

Victim #8,113,903: Social Engineers Go Corporate

Not long after Dr. Yamitori shared her username on a handout at a medical conference, she received an invitation to become friends with Dr. Xavier on a social networking site built for the medical community. Dr. Yamitori had shared her impressions of the conference on the site, and Dr. Xavier had been taking note. Over the course of the next month, the two never communicated directly via the network; rather, they received regular updates and comments posted by the other doctors in the network.

On Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM, Dr. Xavier (Dr. X) posted a comment directly to Dr. Yamitori (Dr. Y). Dr. X explained that he was in the process of researching software packages for his office and, knowing from the conference that Dr. Y ran an efficient operation, wanted to find out what software she used to manage her patient files.

Dr. Y happened to be at her computer and responded immediately to the query. Because both were part of a doctor's network, and concluding that the questions were innocuous, Dr. Y shared that she used Patient Relation 10.0 and was very happy with it. Dr. X thanked her, asked no further questions, and concluded the thread somewhat abruptly.

At 2:06 PM, Dr. Y's assistant sent an internal ...