Large companies are wising up these days. They are hiring outside companies to simulate cyber attacks in an effort to prevent unwary employees from killing their computer systems by unknowingly clicking on links in emails that may contain infectious code or capture confidential information.
According to Mar. 27, Wall Street Journal, the security of many big networks is not breached by “brainy hacker code but with workers who are tricked by so-called social engineering, which manipulates people into revealing sensitive information.”
That’s why companies such as Digital Defense Inc. of San Antonio, whose 10 confidence-men-for-hire “craft attacks to exploit employees' human failings.” The objective – not to “get anybody fired or in trouble, but rather to help everyone learn the techniques malicious hackers also use.”
One of the tools “ethical hackers” (whose job is to simulate cyber attacks) use is a cat named “Dr. Zaius.”
You may have seen “Dr, Zaius,” a Turkish Angora cat with a purple Mohawk. The weird but adorable cat has been the object included in emails to some two million office workers to entice them to click on a link that promises more photos of adorable kitties.
But those that fall prey to the “Dr. Zaius” image and click on the included link, do not get more cute pictures.
Instead they get “ stern warnings from their tech departments.”
"It's a gotcha service," says Tom DeSot, executive vice president at Digital Defense Inc.
The next time you find yourself idle in your little cubicle and an email arrives with cute little pictures, beware – don’t let it get you!
You have been warned!
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