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Difficulty: EasySocial Engineering Attacks and Vectors

An attacker leaves several USB flash drives labeled "Executive Compensation Q3" on tables in an enterprise cafeteria, relying on curious employees to pick one up and plug it into a corporate workstation. Which social engineering attack vector is being demonstrated in this scenario?

  1. BaitingAnswer
  2. B
    Tailgating
  3. C
    Spear phishing
  4. D
    Watering hole

Answer

Baiting is the correct social engineering attack vector.
Baiting is a social engineering attack where an attacker leaves malware-infected physical media, such as USB flash drives, in locations where targets are likely to find them. The enticing label appeals to curiosity, convincing victims to plug the media into their systems.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the attack mechanism described in the scenario
The attacker relies on enticing curiosity by placing physical media (USB drives with intriguing labels) in a public employee space.
Identifying the medium (physical USB drive) and psychological trigger (curiosity/greed) narrows down the social engineering vector.
2
Map the mechanism to the correct social engineering classification
Leaving infected physical media to entice victims to connect it to a network is defined as baiting.
Baiting differs from remote electronic vector attacks (such as spear phishing) or physical access attacks (such as tailgating).

Key Concept

Baiting Attack Vector
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Topics

Social Engineering Attacks and Vectors

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