Boston Globe Quotes Bestavros on Social Engineering
The Boston Globe quotes Azer Bestavros, BU Computer Science Professor and Founding Director of the Hariri Institute, in their article “Around Internet, password fatigue setting in Protection becomes a not-so-secret frustration”
E-mail access in particular is a gateway to other sites because it contains so much personal information, and hackers can exploit a that weak link to work their way into a more lucrative target, such as a bank account, said Azer Bestavros, a professor of computer science at Boston University.
“It’s called ‘social engineering,’ ” he said. “You could be part of a bigger plot. They use you as a step in a bigger scheme. This is why a person who would appear to be totally average could be useful to a hacker.”