Published 05-30-24
Human beings are inherently social creatures, which can be both a blessing and a curse, especially in the world of cybersecurity and identity crime. Understanding the intricacies of social engineering attacks is paramount in comprehending their threat to businesses. These attacks exploit human vulnerabilities by tailoring strategies to target specific demographics or personality types, utilizing personal, social, and cultural information.
Through an exploration of a prominent case involving MGM Resorts and discussions on defense strategies, we can begin to see the critical need for innovative solutions like Photolok in safeguarding against such threats.
In the context of security, social engineering describes a method of tailoring an attack to target a specific demographic or personality type using information gathered about their personal, social, and cultural habits and expectations. According to Carnegie Mellon University, social engineering attacks rely on “manipulating, influencing, or deceiving a victim in order to gain control over a computer system, or to steal personal and financial information.” This is considered a form of psychological manipulation and usually occurs in a four-step cycle:
Social engineering attacks rely heavily on our personal expectations and a sense of urgency. For example, suppose you receive an email that is ostensibly from your bank. In that case, you’re less likely to check its validity if they’re threatening to close your account and take legal action if you don’t confirm your identity with them or if they tell you that your information’s been compromised and this is the only way to save yourself thousands of dollars in losses.
The most common form of social engineering attack is phishing, when an attacker duplicates or “spoofs” an official form or website and directs targets to it with a duplicated or “spoofed” message “alerting” them to a problem with or update to their account. The spoofed site looks just like the login screen for the actual business or organization but will always result in an error after the information is submitted rather than allowing access to the appropriate site. It will also send that information directly to the attacker, who can then use it to access the legitimate site.
In September of 2023, the Las Vegas giant MGM Resorts faced a major cyberattack that brought down large portions of their casinos and put all of the guests and staff of the resort’s multiple locations in danger. UK news outlet The Daily Mail said of the attack that “the main website for MGM Resorts remained down on Wednesday [September 13] morning, following a ‘cybersecurity incident’ the company says impacted reservations and casino floors in Nevada and seven other states.”
Potentially the most embarrassing part of the breach is that the attack reportedly occurred via a 10-minute phone conversation using one employee’s stolen information gathered using social engineering techniques. According to some reports, a member of the attacking group looked up the employee on LinkedIn and called the company’s Help Desk posing as them to gain control of the account. Once they were inside the system, they were free to instigate a massive ransomware attack.
This massive attack lasted 10 days and cost the company an estimated $100 million in lost revenue, which doesn’t even account for the cost of rebuilding its cybersecurity infrastructure. The breach affected around 10.6 million people, whose information from names and payment methods to addresses and account numbers was leaked.
The biggest challenge to assess when it comes to social engineering attacks is the human element; it’s difficult to circumvent an attack if you’re not sure it’s happening. In the case of vishing (phishing attempts conducted via phone call or voicemail), unless a service representative is familiar with the voices of all employees, it would be nearly impossible to prevent impersonations from a recognition standpoint alone.
Because of this, it’s best to incorporate layers of protection in all methods of access; service representatives should use multiple pieces of information such as a password, pin, or other verification method to confirm identities. It would also be best to include multi-factor authentication (MFA) in most if not all access points for information, making it more difficult for attackers to access all of the information they need.
Photolok is a service that offers a novel approach to thwart phishing attempts. Unlike conventional MFA methods reliant on security questions or email verification, Photolok uses a photo-based authentication system; users designate specific photo images as “keys” to their accounts. When attempting to access the service, users are prompted to select their “photo” from a grid. Access is granted only upon choosing the correct photo.
The strength of Photolok lies in the fact that it does not rely on easily compromised numerical codes, security question responses, or passwords vulnerable to phishing attempts. By utilizing unique photos, Photolok drastically raises the bar for attackers attempting to guess or phish access credentials, particularly given the absence of direct access to Photolok’s internal bank of photo options.
Photolok also integrates advanced features engineered to combat AI and machine learning-driven attacks, which gives the system stronger adaptability to evolving threats than traditional MFA. Additional options in the system, such as labeling photos for one-time use and activating alerts for administrators in the event of forced entry via “Duress” photo selection, further fortify security measures, particularly in public and remote work environments.
You can learn more about Photolok and how it can protect your company from social engineering attacks by contacting the sales team.
Phishing schemes represent a pervasive threat in the digital landscape, exploiting trust to deceive individuals into divulging sensitive information. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) stands as a crucial defense mechanism. By adding layers of verification, MFA fortifies account security and deters potential attackers. It’s become an industry standard for protecting sensitive information online.
However, as phishing techniques evolve, traditional MFA methods face challenges. In an era where cyber threats loom large, solutions like Photolok offer a proactive defense against phishing, safeguarding sensitive information and bolstering digital resilience.
The Federal Trade Commission of the United States defines phishing as an online scam method that relies on the impersonation of a well-known or trusted source, usually a bank, internet service provider, mortgage or loan company, or other similar entity. Phishers will send an email, text message, or other message that closely resembles the authentic source’s communications, often including using its logo and a covert email address that resembles the real thing. This email will ask the victim to follow a link or call a number to provide personal information such as an account number, name, phone number, password, social security number (SSN), or other identifying information. The information is then used by the phishers to access important accounts and use them to commit identity fraud or steal money.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation notes that these “spoofed” (faked or impersonated) profiles, emails, and websites are created with the sole purpose of stealing information and will often be extremely convincing. They’re intentionally manipulative, usually using a sense of false urgency – the threat of your account being suspended or legal action being taken, for example – to get you to act quickly without taking the time to verify the legitimacy of the claim.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a process that adds a layer of action to access accounts, thereby increasing the account’s security. Some common forms of MFA include security questions, captcha tests, biometric verification (facial recognition or fingerprint scanning), and secondary device verification.
MFA helps to thwart phishing attempts in a couple of different ways. For one, a user who is used to seeing MFA prompts will be immediately suspicious if not asked for verification when entering information, making them more likely to update their security protocols before any negative action can be taken. If the scammer does get their information without their realizing it, however, MFA can stop them from accessing the account without the secondary piece of information. This gives the user more time to update their security protocols and alert the service that something is wrong.
Unfortunately, even as our security technology improves, phishing schemes are becoming more and more sophisticated and are beginning to bypass traditional MFA. Some methods, like push bombing (overloading a system with requests for credentials and using those weaknesses to reroute MFA to a scammer’s device) and SIM swap attacks (where an attacker taps into a mobile operator’s number porting functions and overtakes the victim’s secondary device to receive their information that way).
It’s important to recognize these potential shortcomings of MFA and implement measures to combat them so that businesses can keep up with attackers and think ahead of them. This is especially true if you are working on an older system that hasn’t been updated to protect against modern threats like AI and machine learning attacks.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has put our official guidelines for using MFA effectively for phishing attack defense. They recommend using phishing-resistant MFA including public key infrastructure (PKI) based systems and FIDO/WebAuthen systems. An added benefit to using these systems is that attacks like push bombing and SIM swapping simply do not apply, and therefore can’t be effective.
One effective MFA system is Photolok logon. Unlike conventional MFA logon methods that may rely on biometrics like facial recognition fingerprints, etc., Photolok relies on a photo-based system that replaces passwords that does not require biometrics as a variable. Since passwords are the primary credentials that the attacker is trying to compromise, eliminating passwords stops them in their tracks. More importantly, since biometrics are permanent and can be easily compromised, they can lead to abuse and financial harm once compromised.
With Photolok, users select specific non-personal photos from Photolok’s photo library for their account. Each user accounts photo is proprietary coded to prevent guessing and/or screen detection. Photolok’s defenses are designed to lock-out intruders and protect against push bombing because of the billions of photo combinations. Even if another person is using some of the same photos, each photo is uniquely coded to the account user and their devices to prevent another person from entering their account. Quite simply, the unauthorized user and/or hacker will be locked out immediately by Photolok’s security barriers.
Photolok MFA approach offers heightened security compared to traditional MFA methods including protections against AI/ML attacks, sim-card swapping, and lateral penetrations. Photolok MFA effectively merges ultra-security with simplicity and ease of use.For more information about Photolok and how it can protect your company from phishing attacks, you can contact the sales team.
Safeguarding personal information is the most important part of online interactions for many major everyday uses, from official documentation to digital commerce. Identity verification serves as the cornerstone of cybersecurity efforts, ensuring that only authorized individuals gain access to personal data. From financial institutions to government agencies, the concept has permeated every sector, becoming synonymous with online account protection. Innovative solutions like Photolok are revolutionizing the landscape of ID verification technology with image-based multi-factor authentication (MFA).
According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, identity verification can be defined as, “the process of confirming or denying that a claimed identity is correct by comparing the credentials of a person requesting access with those previously proven and associated with the [identifying information] associated with the identity being claimed.” To put this more simply, identity verification is a series of steps taken to ensure that the person who is trying to view sensitive personal information – such as banking information, medical records, or information related to business or personal transactions – is actually who they say they are and not someone pretending to be them.
ID verification has been used by banks, schools, medical facilities, and government agencies practically since their inception in some form or other. In modern times, the term has become synonymous with online account protection, acting as a method of protecting information that we put into the digital world.
The verification process normally begins with the gathering of identifying information from the person (the protectee) whose information a business or agency (the protector) is trying to protect. This often includes biographical information such as their name, age, or appearance and practical information such as their current home address, phone number, or email address. This is also when the protector will ask the protectee to create an identifying credential or a piece (or multiple pieces) of information that only they know, such as a password.
Protecting parties will also often ask protectees for secondary credentials that can be used in multi-factor authentication (MFA), which makes it more difficult for thieves to access information. This secondary credential might be
Digital MFA might also include anti-bot and anti-AI measures such as Captcha puzzles or “I am not a robot” checkboxes.
Once all of this information is collected and associated with a particular identity, it can be used to verify attempts to access information. When a person approaches the protector, they must present the base identifying credentials – a username or email and a password, for example, or an account number and the name associated with it. From there, if MFA is in place, they must present a second set of identifying credentials. If both sets of information match the information that is on file, they are allowed access to their information.
Cybersecurity, by its very definition, is the measures taken to ensure that information stored and transmitted online is only accessed by those who are intended and allowed to access it. Identity verification is the key to most cybersecurity efforts, allowing information holders to create safe spaces in the digital world for user data and for users to store that data without worrying that their sensitive personal information will be used inappropriately.
ID verification has an especially crucial role in e-commerce. The Harvard Business Review noted in an article from September of 2023 that, “Without this simple concept [of ID verification], the digital economy [couldn’t] operate. All those newly digital businesses, from fashion designers to bakeries, couldn’t have told the difference between their customers and scammers.” ID verification systems allow for the secure transfer of funds from customers to businesses of all sizes, from individual purchases at a small one-person storefront to wholesale restocks from major retailers. The flow of billions of transactions per day necessitates strong security systems like ID verification to prevent widescale collapse due to false and fraudulent purchases and transfers.
Even outside of e-commerce, ID verification allows national and local governments to modernize and streamline their operations, allowing citizens to pay bills, sign contracts and legal documents, and even (in some places) vote remotely. ID verification allows medical institutions to provide their patients with remote access to their medical records and easier access to their doctors, pharmacists, and other specialists for treatment plans including appointments and medication.
Of course, no technology is perfect. The Federal Trade Commission noted that, in 2022 alone, consumers lost nearly $8.8 billion to fraud and scams, a growth of nearly 30% from the previous year. Many of these scams included identity fraud, making unauthorized transactions using the stolen information of the victims to steal their money. Much of this comes from data security breaches from major companies, leaking passwords, usernames, emails, and other identifying information into the hands of scammers. That being said, adding layers of ID verification into your online systems can slow bad actors’ access down or stop it entirely, thwarting these fraudulent attempts even if they have access to some of your users’ information.
Photolok is an innovative ID verification system that uses image-based MFA to protect user information. A user picks photos to act as “keys” to their accounts; when they input their primary credentials into the system, they’re prompted to select their account photos from a grid of photos in order to enter their online destination.
Not only is this system more secure than a security question or email verification – as there is no practical way or reason to write down the solutions and access to the user’s email wouldn’t reveal the necessary photos – but it is also resistant to AI and machine learning attacks, which is an essential feature as these technologies continue to evolve. It also includes options for labeling photos for 1-Time Use that can improve secure access in public spaces and on public computers as well as Duress photos that can be selected to access the information while sending a security alert to an administrator in the event of a forced entry.
Photolok offers simple-to-use but highly advanced security options for any business at reasonable rates. They partner well with such useful tools as Okta Workforce, OAuth 2.0, and Open ID Connect, offer multi-domain support, device limiting and authorization, and custom photo library options for additional security and personalization.
For more information about Photolok, you can contact the sales team for a demonstration.
With the increasing frequency of data breaches and cyber attacks, it’s more crucial than ever to have a strong password management system in place. Corporate password management can be complicated, but there are several solutions available that can be layered together for more secure access. Here’s what you need to know about implementing password management systems for your business, from why it matters to how you can effectively secure your data using different systems together.
A report from Duke University noted that “more than 80 percent of U.S. companies indicate their systems have been successfully hacked in an attempt to steal, change or make public important data.” The researchers noticed that the majority of successful hacking attempts were carried out against smaller businesses with less than 1000 employees, though larger companies were not without damages thanks to lax cybersecurity and underutilized data security training and staffing. Statista adds to this by noting that there were more than 8.17 million user accounts’ data exposed to unsecured sources in Q4 of 2023, and overall 40.42 million accounts were compromised over the entire year. This leaves millions of people and businesses open to data misuse and fraud.
Many of these data breaches come from unsecured account credentials. It’s easy for employees to lose, forget, or have their passwords stolen, especially if they are accessing their corporate accounts from external sources like remote working devices. Data skimming from public wifi is a classic scamming technique that pulls unencrypted data like usernames and passwords. Successful phishing scams – designed to imitate official sources such as banks and account helpdesks – can lift credentials from unsuspecting victims quickly. If hackers and fraudsters gain access to your information and there are no security layers to thwart them, they can easily lift significant amounts of money and data from your systems before they’re ever detected, which can take a long time to recover if it can be recovered at all.
Using password management systems serves to both simplify the account access process and add layers of protection to it. A good password management system allows you to easily track and manage the expected 70-80 passwords we use regularly across the internet. They allow you to use unique passwords across accounts, keeping them more secure than if you reused your credentials on the program level, and offer you methods for using your saved passwords across different devices safely through encrypted information. These programs allow individual users and businesses alike the ability to add layers that make it harder for scammers to get all of the information they need to access the accounts.
To establish a password management system for your business, you should look into all of the options available to you. MFA, SSO, and IdP can all layer together to create a secure data system.
An identity provider (IdP) is a service that works to process the credentials of a user to ensure they’re valid and allowed to access the information they’re looking for. Users input their credentials and the IdP compares what they input to what’s on file. If it matches, gives them access to their information. If it doesn’t match, the user is blocked, keeping the data secure.
Single sign-on (SSO) is a system that allows users to use one set of credentials to access all of the accounts they need instead of having to access each account separately with different credentials across the board. This makes operating multiple accounts simultaneously and quickly easier and allows data to be more centralized.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a system that asks users to input secondary credentials, outside of a username or email and a password, to verify their identity. They might use factors such as biometrics (face scans or fingerprints), additional devices, authentication applications, or security questions. This makes it harder for a scammer or hacker to gain access to an account even if they have the user’s primary credentials.
Ideally, you’ll want to use multiple layers of security together to create a secure password management system. If your passwords are stored with a secure IdP and can be accessed via SSO with MFA layered on top, there are then three hurdles to clear before the information is viewed rather than one or two. These further barriers between scammers and hackers and your sensitive data mean that you have a higher chance of being alerted to a break-in attempt long before it succeeds so that you can intervene.
Photolok is a unique and secure authentication system that relies on images as verification. Users pick a set of images to act as their identifiers and label them. When someone enters their primary credentials, they’re prompted to select the correct image from a grid. Some images can be labeled “One-Time Use” for secure access in public spaces and secure temporary credential sharing. Images can also be labeled as “Duress,” which sends an alert to administrators if used that lets them know the account was forcefully accessed so that it can be secured quickly.
This system adds a layer of MFA to your password management system, which can be combined with SSO to create a secure wall between your data and those trying to access it that’s harder to break than a traditional password or secondary credential system. It’s resistant to artificial intelligence and machine learning attacks on top of providing lateral defense.
Corporate password management is a crucial aspect of maintaining data security, especially with the increasing number of cyber-attacks and data breaches. Companies need to prioritize implementing password management solutions such as MFA, SSO, and IdP to layer security and make it harder for scammers and hackers to access sensitive information. Photolok offers a unique and secure authentication system that adds an extra layer of security to password management systems.
By taking steps to safeguard their data, businesses can prevent significant financial losses and reputational damage, and protect their customers’ sensitive information.
The security of personal and sensitive information has become more important than ever. With the rise of online services and platforms, and especially the rising tide of AI and machine learning attacks on those services and platforms, the need for secure authentication and verification systems has become paramount.
MFA, SSO, and IdP are measures designed to ensure that the person attempting to access information is actually who they claim to be. Used separately, they can restrict access to only necessary parties, but they really shine when used together as a network of failsafes.
In digital spaces, services that allow the storage of personal or sensitive information – social media sites, cloud storage options, secure sites for legal or medical information, and more – need to have some way of protecting that information. This is typically done by isolating information behind an authentication system.
The most basic versions of this require at least two pieces of information, usually a username or email and a password, to act as credentials that must be entered correctly to access restricted information. MFA, SSO, and IdP are all programs and measures that relate to making sure that the person trying to access restricted information is actually who they say they are.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security measure for online accounts that involves using more than one piece of identifying information to verify a user’s identity. This usually means a combination of sign-in credentials and a secondary and sometimes tertiary identifier that falls into one of four categories: a biological identifier such as a face or fingerprint scan, an outside device such as a phone or tablet, an authentication program that generates a randomized code, and a piece of biographical information such as a security question with a personalized answer.
Single sign-on (SSO) is a security measure that locks multiple accounts behind a singular set of credentials that allows access to all of them. These programs are useful for education institutes and businesses that need to give their users access to multiple different programs that all require identification; they can save a significant amount of time and data storage by centralizing authentication efforts to one digital space.
An identity provider (IdP) checks the validity of credentials against stored information to ensure that they’re authentic and up-to-date. They draw on an established database of submitted digital identities (sets of information for a particular user, device, or network). IdPs are used to verify both people and devices, often requiring MFA or SSO, sometimes both, to operate.
MFA, SSO, and IdPs can aid system administrators in detecting fraud by detecting suspicious login attempts, unusual access patterns, and other red flags. They can then flag and secure these accounts by locking them for a short amount of time and alerting the account owner to suspicious requests, giving them time to update their information and secure their data. The use of multiple layers of security makes it difficult for fraudsters to bypass the authentication process, and any suspicious activity can be quickly identified and investigated.
MFA, SSO, and IdP also help to prevent fraud by adding layered security between your information and the person or program trying to access it. These systems help to verify the identity and authority of the accessor and ensure that no one sees information without permission. The protections get more advanced when you use these systems in combination with each other. IdPs are the base of any authentication system, acting as the first line of defense for authentication. If you add MFA on top of this, even if someone manages to get the password on file from the IdP, without the secondary authentication methods, they won’t be able to access the information necessary. If you add SSO to an IdP, you get a centralized data point that has fewer openings for security breaches than varied account login information would have, keeping the data simpler and easier to encrypt and protect. Add MFA on top of that combination and you have a centralized, secure set of authenticators that must be processed together to be effective protecting all of your accounts.
Photolok is a system that works with IdPs to combine SSO and MFA to protect user information. Through this system, users select and label security images. When they sign in with their base credentials, they are prompted to select their photo from a grid. This system can be layered into an SSO setup for maximum security for businesses. It’s highly resistant to AI and machine learning attacks, making it a solid modern option for data security. Users can also label certain images as “Duress,” so that even if they are forced to log in by someone else or forced to give that information to someone else, their system administrator can be alerted to the situation subtly.
MFA, SSO, and IdP are useful for protecting personal and sensitive information online. These systems help to prevent fraud by layering security to lessen the impact of singular data breaches and verifying the accessor. These protections, especially when used together, provide a sort of guard system covering information.
With the help of systems like Photolok, businesses can maximize their data security and protect information from AI and machine learning attacks, making them a solid modern option for data security.
In the daily operations of a business, it’s normal for employees to need to access multiple accounts or collaborate across accounts to get their work done. In some cases, though, it may be impractical to have multiple accounts for the same service. When this happens, it’s common for employees to share passwords.
Password sharing in a business setting can be dangerous, exposing sensitive company information to outsiders who may use it for ill intent. There are a few ways you can mitigate this danger, but first, it’s best to understand why password sharing happens and what exactly those dangers are.
According to research conducted by popular survey company Survey Monkey, an estimated 32 million employees in the United States share passwords. But why? Per the respondents to this survey, most people who share their passwords (about one-third of participants), at least in a work setting, do so to collaborate with their teammates. Other reasons found in the survey included following company procedures and reducing costs.
This makes sense; a company may not have the resources to pay for separate subscriptions to certain services for all of their employees or may not use the service enough to justify the extra cost. Having some employees share a single paid account might be more practical in these scenarios. Additionally, having everyone work from the same account can make collaboration easier by allowing employees to save their work to the same location and access others’ work as needed without the intermediary steps of sharing documentation through messaging or emails.
As common as it is, though, password sharing can still be dangerous.
The first and most obvious risk of sharing passwords is that of the person with whom the password is shared being a bad actor. Phishing schemes are incredibly common, accounting for 3.4 billion spam emails sent every day and being the most common cause of data breaches. These scams rely on a person voluntarily sharing their password with a party pretending to be some kind of authority.
Even if the person with whom you are sharing your password is not a bad actor themselves, however, password sharing can still lead to accessing sensitive information through unsecured networks. It is incredibly difficult to regulate server access if employees share information and access it via external networks such as remote office setups or public computers.
Additionally, if any changes are made to the sensitive data via an external network, tracking who made the changes and why is much more difficult. This may mean that your internal data is susceptible to abuse by jaded former employees or dishonest employees looking to profit from your work in some way. This may mean anything from unauthorized social media posts that may greatly damage the company image to the misuse of customer information to potential serious loss of revenue.
All of this being said, there will still be scenarios in which you may need to share an account across multiple employees or access points. Here are some tips from Forbes on how to share passwords safely.
It’s also a good idea to implement multi-factor authentication into all of your accounts. MFA adds layers of security to accounts and limits access to those with the appropriate information and identifying factors. Consider adding a more advanced MFA solution such as Photolok to your data. Photolok, a new technology from Netlok, allows users to upload and label photos to be used as identifiers; they simply select their photo from a grid to access their account. There is also an option to create a Duress photo, which will allow access for the user in the event of a forced authentication but will also alert the appropriate authorities so that the breach can be addressed quickly and safely.
If you are a business looking to implement MFA, consider using a more advanced authentication method such as Photolok IdP. Photolok is a passwordless IdP that is simple, effective, and offers a range of benefits including AI and ML defense, device authorization, and one-time-use authenticators. With Photolok, users select images and label them for security use. When accessing a network, application, and/or API, users simply choose their account photos in several photo panels, and they are given access. Users can also label a photo as Duress, which acts as a silent alarm. The Duress option allows the user access but notifies IT administrators that the user’s account is compromised and they need to execute the company’s security procedure quickly to protect the company and the user’s safety.
Read More: Phishing Attacks Surge By 173% In Q3, 2023
Read More: The Need for a Paradigm Change to Mitigate Password Vulnerability From Artificial Intelligence
Read More: Fortify Security: Investing in Advanced Authentication Solutions
Member – Insider GovTech
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
©2015-2025 Netlok. All rights reserved.