Hacking the Help Desk: How Attackers Talk Their Way Into Company Networks
The group believed to be behind recent attacks on casinos excels at so-called social engineering, the term of art for tricking IT call center workers into unwittingly aiding them.
The MGM Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas.
Photographer: Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg
In many ways it was an unremarkable conversation. An employee working for an IT help desk took a call, introduced himself and asked, “Is this regarding a new or existing ticket?” The caller, who sounded like an American in his early 20s, explained that he was having trouble signing in to his account. “I don’t know how to reset my password, so I was just calling to get a password reset today.” The caller provided his name, and it matched an employee on staff.
“The account should be fine,” the caller added. “I mean, I haven’t locked it, it’s just the password issue.”