Marchons, Marchons! (Soldiers of Spam, pt. 2)
We continue to have people hand out their passwords to phishers as if candy at Halloween. And now our entire mail domain has been blacklisted because the compromised accounts are sending spam faster than you can say “NOOOOOOOO…” I wonder, is there a geographic difference in the efficacy of social engineering techniques? For example, are people in New England (where the stereotype includes being distrusting, independent, and skeptical) less likely to respond to phishing than folks in the Pacific Northwest (where the stereotype involves being laid back, a little passive, and, yes, possibly stoned)?
Bendy said:
Jan 27, 09 at 9:47 amThis just about defines crusty old New Englander
“Late one afternoon in June, 2001, John W. Worley sat in a burgundy leather desk chair reading his e-mail. He was fifty-seven and burly, with glasses, a fringe of salt-and-pepper hair, and a bushy gray beard. A decorated Vietnam veteran and an ordained minister, he had a busy practice as a Christian psychotherapist, and, with his wife, Barbara, was the caretaker of a mansion on a historic estate in Groton, Massachusetts. He lived in a comfortable three-bedroom suite in the mansion, and saw patients in a ground-floor office with walls adorned with images of Jesus and framed military medals.”
and he fell bigtime for a 419 scammer.
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/05/15/060515fa_fact
My favorites are the phishing offers for a Burger King gift certificate in exchange for your SSN, etc.
My own lizard brain has been short-circuiting all morning as it continually mistakes an empty box of of manila folders for a box of doughnuts.
admin said:
Jan 27, 09 at 5:09 pm“Caretaker of a mansion on a historic estate…?” The entire article is frightening. All it needs is a “Little Edie” Bouvier to come dancing out in a tutu surrounded by 10,000 cats a la Grey Gardens. Or maybe Bette Davis could appear as a “special guest star” in the role of “The Widow Fortune.” Point made.
There is a box of doughnuts down the hall from me. I’ve avoided eating them by eating several large Power Bars ™ instead. So now I feel sick AND deprived.
New Englander said:
Jan 27, 09 at 7:31 pmI will not dignify this post with a response.
rufusb said:
Jan 28, 09 at 10:01 amI believe that our profession is where the entropic rubber meets the road.