This theses concerns with social engineering and defense against it. Social engineering attacks represents significant threat for organizations and their information systems, especially because they target weakest link in information systems security, its users. That way attacker can easily bypass even highly sophisticated security system. This theses tries to deal with question, how to effectively secure human factor of information system.

The artist discusses his Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition “the emotional plague” held at the Reese Museum in Johnson City, Tennessee from March 2nd through March 27th, 2020 in which he examines a number of literary and invented narrative subjects influenced by science fiction, Surrealism and the current political climate in an attempt to reconcile the social and the personal through the creative act. Largely improvisational in their conception, the paintings and drawings in this exhibition reflect ideas derived from writers, thinkers and artists including Wilhelm Reich, J.G. Ballard, W.S. Burroughs and Goya, all distilled through the uncertain territory of Raynolds’ personal, internal landscape. He utilizes an amalgam of characters, tropes, and stories as metaphorical expressions of social psychosis and decay.

A system is only as secure as the weakest link in the chain. Humans are the binding link between IT (information technology) security and physical secu-rity. In general, the human is often considered as the weakest link in the chain, so social engineering attacks are used to manipulate or trick people to accom-plish the goal of bypassing security systems. Within this master thesis, we answer several research questions related to social engineering. Most im-portant is to find out why humans are considered as the weakest link and why existing guidelines are failing, as well as to achieve the goal of raising aware-ness and starting education at a young age. For this, we examine existing lit-erature on the subject and create experiments, an interview, a campaign eval-uation, and a survey. Our systematic work begins with an introduction, the methodology, a definition of social engineering and explanations of state-of-the-art social engineering methods. The theoretical part of this thesis also in-cludes ethical and psychological aspects and an evaluation of existing guide-lines with a review of why they are not successful.Furthermore, we continue with the practical part. An interview with a profes-sional security consultant focusing on social engineering from our collabora-tion company TÜV TRUST IT GmbH (TÜV AUSTRIA Group)1 is con-ducted. A significant part here deals with awareness-raising overall, espe-cially at a younger age. Additionally, the countermeasures against each dif-ferent social engineering method are analysed. Another practical part is the evaluation of existing social engineering campaigns2 from TÜV TRUST IT GmbH TÜV AUSTRIA Group to see how dangerous and effective social en-gineering has been in the past. From experience gained in this thesis, guide-lines on dealing with social engineering are discussed before the thesis is fi-nalized with results, the conclusion and possible future work.

Certificate Authorities (CAs) carry a huge responsibility in today's internet security landscape as they issue certificates that establish secure end-to-end connections. This thesis conducts a policy review and survey of CAs' Certificate Policies and Certificate Practice Statements to find similarities and differences that could lead to possible vulnerabilities. Based on this, the thesis then presents a taxonomy-based analysis as well as comparisons of the top CAs to the Baseline Requirements. The main areas of the policies that were focused on are the issuance, revocation and expiration practices of the top 30 CAs as determined by the use of Tranco's list. We also determine the top CA groups, meaning the CAs whose policies are being used by the most other CAs as well as including a top 100 CAs list. The study suggests that the most popular CAs hold such a position because of two main reasons: they are easy to acquire and/or because they are connected to several other CAs.  The results suggest that some of the biggest vulnerabilities in the policies are what the CAs do not mention in any section as it puts the CA at risk for vulnerabilities. The results also suggest that the most dangerous attacks are social engineering attacks, as some of the stipulations for issuance and revocations make it possible to pretend to be the entity of subscribes to the certificate rather than a malicious one.

Phishing är en metod som används av angripare på nätet för att lura sitt offer att dela med sig av känslig information som bankuppgifter, lösenord eller användaruppgifter. Författarnas syfte med denna studie är att undersöka ifall det är skillnad på utsattheten för phishing beroende på utbildningsbakgrund. Om de med utbildningsbakgrund inom IT eventuellt presterar bättre än de utan den bakgrunden eller om det går att hitta andra samband varför vissa lättare faller offer för phishing. I takt med att system blir allt säkrare blir den mänskliga faktorn den svaga länken. För är det något som är säkert är det att människor begår misstag och gör fel. Det handlar därför om att minimera dessa risker och ständigt vara i framkant för att bemöta cyberkriminaliteten. Det är viktigt att hitta svaren varför någon faller för phishing och hur det går att stärka människors förmåga att identifiera en phishing attack innan det är försent eftersom det annars kan få negativa konsekvenser. Resultaten togs fram genom en enkät där förmågan att identifiera phishing e-mails undersöktes. Det gjordes med hjälp av ett test där respondenterna fick en verklighetstrogen bild av olika phishing metoder i form av e-mails där det skulle identifiera om e-mailen var phishing eller autentiskt. Undersökningens resultat visar att de med utbildningsbakgrund inom IT hade lättare att dissekera vilka som var phishing och vilka som var autentiska. Denna undersökning replikerade även tidigare studiers resultat att kvinnor som grupp är något mer mottagliga för phishing.

Social engineering as a method of attack is increasingly becoming a problem for both corporations and individuals. From identity theft to enormous financial losses, this form of attack is notorious for affecting complex structures, yet often being very simple in its form. Whereas for other forms of cyber- attack, tools like antivirus and antimalware are now industry standard, have proven to be reliable ways to keep safe private and confidential data, there is no such equivalent for social engineering attacks. There is not, as of this day, a trustworthy and precise way of estimating resilience to these attacks, while still keeping the private data private. The purpose of this report is to compile the different aspects of a users computer data that have been proven to significantly indicative of their susceptibility to these kinds of attacks, and with them, devise a system that can, with some degree of precision, estimate the resilience to social engineering of the user. This report is a literature study on the topic of social engineering and how it relates to computer program data, configuration and personality. The different phases of research each led to a more comprehensive way of linking the different pieces of data together and devising a rudimentary way of estimating human resilience to social engineering through the observation of a few configuration aspects. For the purposes of this report, the data had to be reasonably accessible, respecting privacy, and being something that can be easily extrapolated from one user to another. Based on findings, ranging from psychological data and behavioral patterns, to network configurations, we conclude that, even though there is data that supports the possibility of estimating resilience, there is, as of this day, no empirically proven way of doing so in a precise manner. An estimation model is provided by the end of the report, but the limitations of this project did not allow for an experiment to prove its validity beyond the theories it is based upon. / Social Manipulering som attackmetod har blivit ett ökande problem både för företag och individer. Från identitetsstöld till enorma ekonomiska förluster, är denna form av attack känd för att kunna påverka komplexa system, men är ofta i sig mycket enkel i sin form. Medans andra typer av cyberattacker kan skyddas med verktyg som antivirus och antimalware och tillförlitligt hålla privat och konfidentiell information säker så finns det inga motsvarande verktyg för att skydda sig mot Social Manipulering attacker. Det finns alltså inte idag ett pålitligt och säkert sätt att motstå Social Manipulering attacker och skydda personliga uppgifter och privat data. Syftet med denna rapport är att visa olika aspekterna hur datoranvändares data är sårbarhet för dessa typer av attacker, och med dessa utforma ett system som med viss mån av precision kan mäta resiliens mot Social Manipulering. Rapporten är ett resultat av studier av litteratur inom ämnet Social Manipulering och hur den relaterar sig till datorns data, konfiguration och personuppgifter. De olika delarna av utredningen leder var och en till ett mer omfattande sätt att koppla samman de olika uppgifterna och utforma ett rudimentärt sätt att uppskatta en persons resiliens mot Social Manipulering, detta genom att observera olika aspekter av datorns konfiguration. För syftet av rapporten så har uppgifterna varit rimligt tillgängliga, har respekterat integriteten och varit något som lätt kan anpassas från en användare till en annan. Baserat på observationerna av psykologiska data, beteendemönster och nätverkskonfigurationer, så kan vi dra slutsatsen att även om det finns data som stöder möjligheten att uppskatta resiliens, finns det idag inget empiriskt bevisat sätt att göra det på ett exakt sätt. En exempel av modell för att uppskatta resiliens finns i slutet av rapporten. Ramen för detta projekt gjorde det inte möjligt att göra ett praktiskt experiment för att validera teorierna.

Yes / Passwords are the most popular and constitute the first line of defence in computer-based security systems; despite the existence of more attack-resistant authentication schemes. In order to enhance password security, it is imperative to strike a balance between having enough rules to maintain good security and not having too many rules that would compel users to take evasive actions which would, in turn, compromise security. It is noted that the human factor is the most critical element in the security system for at least three possible reasons; it is the weakest link, the only factor that exercises initiatives, as well as the factor that transcends all the other elements of the entire system. This illustrates the significance of social engineering in security designs, and the fact that security is indeed a function of both technology and human factors; bearing in mind the fact that there can be no technical hacking in vacuum. This paper examines the current divergence among security engineers as regards the rules governing best practices in the use of passwords: should they be written down or memorized; changed frequently or remain permanent? It also attempts to elucidate the facts surrounding some of the myths associated with computer security. This paper posits that destitution of requisite balance between the factors of technology and factors of humanity is responsible for the purgatory posture of password security related problems. It is thus recommended that, in the handling of password security issues, human factors should be given priority over technological factors. The paper proposes the use of the (k, n)-Threshold Scheme, such as the Shamir’s secret-sharing scheme, to enhance the security of the password repository. This presupposes an inclination towards writing down the password: after all, Diamond, Platinum, Gold and Silver are not memorised; they are stored. / Petroleum Technology Development Fund

Criminology and Security Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Criminology)

This thesis presents a field study examining the effect of the Active, Beautiful and Clean Waters (ABC Waters) Programme in Singapore on social capital. Based on a multi-disciplinary approach and following the theoretical framework of bonding and bridging social capital developed by Robert Putnam and others, three different cases of the ABC Programme were compared, looking particularly at the level of blue-green landscape integration. The three cases comprised the ABC flagship project ‘Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park’ with high level of blue-green integration as well as the green and the grey section of the Ulu Pandan Park Connector with medium and low level of blue-green integration, respectively. Quantitative data was obtained by counting the share of park users engaged in social interaction and by surveying 330 park users on the perceptions of social interaction and integration. In addition to the quantitative data, a total of 60 face-to-face interviews were carried out in the three park areas, providing an in-depth understanding of the perceptions of the surrounding areas. The study concludes that the ABC Waters Programme is a strong generator of social capital, offering an attractive place for social bonding and to some extent also for social bridging.

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of security risks and threats of social networks. The work includes basic information about the most popular online social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The work analyzes the development and use of the above mentioned networks. In addition, there are the risks and dangers of communicating on social networks and recommendations for safe use.