Social Engineering Attacks: Phishing, Tailgating, Piggybacking, Shoulder Surfing, Eavesdropping, Dumpster Diving

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key social engineering attacks and their basic definitions as discussed in the lesson.

Social engineering

Any attempt to manipulate people into revealing confidential information or performing actions that compromise security; focuses on exploiting the human element to bypass technical controls.

Phishing

An attack that uses email to trick users into clicking a link and entering credentials or other sensitive data on a spoofed page.

Spear phishing

A targeted phishing attack aimed at specific individuals or groups, using personalized information to appear legitimate.

Whaling

A form of spear phishing that targets high-level executives (e.g., CEO, CFO, CIO) within an organization.

Tailgating

An attacker follows an authorized person into a secure area by slipping in behind them without their knowledge or consent.

Piggybacking

Similar to tailgating, but occurs with the employee's knowledge or consent; the attacker enters on one swipe because the employee held the door open.

Shoulder surfing

An attacker observes someone entering authentication information by looking over their shoulder or nearby, to capture passwords or other data.

Eavesdropping

Listening in on conversations to obtain confidential information, such as projections or other sensitive data.

Dumpster diving

Searching through trash or recycling for personal or confidential information to misuse for an attack.