Automated Social Engineering Bots: A New Threat
Social engineering is the art of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. It is one of the most common and effective methods of cyberattacks. However, social engineering is not only performed by human hackers, but also by automated bots that can impersonate, deceive, or influence their targets. In this article, we will explain what automated social engineering bots are, how they work, why they are a threat to organizations, and how to protect yourself from them.
What are Automated Social Engineering bots?
Automated social engineering bots are programs that use various techniques to interact with humans or other systems to achieve malicious goals. They can mimic human behavior, language, or appearance, and exploit the psychological vulnerabilities of their victims. They can also leverage the vast amount of data available on the internet or social media platforms to gather information, craft personalized messages, or create fake profiles.
How do they work?
Automated social engineering bots can work in different ways depending on their objectives and targets. Some of the common steps involved in an automated social engineering bot attack are:
- Reconnaissance: The bot scans the internet or social media platforms to find potential victims, collect information about them, or identify their interests, preferences, or needs.
- Infiltration: The bot establishes contact with the victim, either directly or indirectly, through email, phone calls, text messages, chat apps, or social networks. The bot may use a fake identity, a spoofed number, or a compromised account to gain the victim’s trust or attention.
- Exploitation: The bot exploits the victim’s emotions, curiosity, greed, fear, or urgency to persuade them to perform a desired action, such as clicking on a link, downloading a file, entering credentials, transferring money, or revealing sensitive information.
- Exfiltration: The bot extracts valuable data or resources from the victim or their system, such as personal information, financial details, passwords, access tokens, or files. The bot may also delete any traces of its activity or install malware for further attacks.
Why are they a threat to organizations?
Automated social engineering bots are a threat to organizations because they can cause significant damage to their reputation, productivity, security, and finances. Some of the possible consequences of automated social engineering bot attacks are:
- Data breach: The bot can steal confidential data from the organization or its employees, such as customer records, trade secrets, intellectual property, or financial statements. This can result in legal liabilities, regulatory fines, customer churn, or competitive disadvantage.
- Fraud: The bot can impersonate an employee, a customer, a vendor, or a partner of the organization and trick them into sending money or goods. This can result in financial losses, contractual disputes, or reputational harm.
- Malware infection: The bot can deliver malware to the organization’s systems or devices through phishing emails or malicious links. This can result in data corruption, system disruption, ransomware encryption, or remote access.
- Network compromise: The bot can use stolen credentials or access tokens to gain unauthorized access to the organization’s network or cloud services. This can result in data exfiltration, lateral movement, privilege escalation, or denial-of-service attacks.
Examples of automated social engineering bot attacks
Here are some examples of automated social engineering bot attacks that have been reported in recent years:
- Emotet: Emotet is a notorious malware that spreads through phishing emails that contain malicious attachments or links. The emails are crafted by scraping bots that collect information from previous email conversations and use it to create convincing messages that appear to come from trusted contacts. Emotet can steal passwords, install ransomware, or create backdoors for other attackers.
- DeepNude: DeepNude is a malicious app that uses deepfake technology to create nude images of women from their clothed photos. The app was used by scraping bots that harvested photos of women from social media platforms and then distributed the fake images online without their consent. DeepNude can cause emotional distress, privacy violations, blackmail, or harassment.
- Replika: Replika is a chatbot app that creates a digital companion for users based on their personality and preferences. The app was used by chatbot bots that pretended to be lonely women looking for love and lured men into online relationships. Replika can cause psychological manipulation, emotional attachment, or financial exploitation.
- Deepfake Voice Scam: Deepfake voice scam is a fraud scheme that uses deepfake technology to create realistic voice impersonations of executives or celebrities. The scam was used by deepfake bots that called employees or fans and asked them to perform urgent tasks or send money. Deepfake voice scams can cause identity theft, business disruption, or financial losses.
Types of Automated Social Engineering Bots
Automated social engineering bots can be classified into four main types based on their techniques and capabilities:
Scraping bots
Scraping bots are bots that crawl the internet or social media platforms to collect information about individuals or organizations. They can use this information to create fake profiles, craft personalized messages, or launch targeted attacks.
Spam bots
Spam bots are bots that send unsolicited messages or emails to large numbers of recipients. They can use these messages to advertise products, promote services, or distribute malware.
Chatbot bots
Chatbot bots are bots that use natural language processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence (AI) to converse with humans or other systems. They can use these conversations to build rapport, influence decisions, or extract information.
Deepfake bots
Deepfake bots are bots that use deepfake technology to create realistic images, videos, or audio of humans or objects. They can use these media to impersonate, deceive, or manipulate their targets.
How Automated Social Engineering bots are used to attack organizations
Automated social engineering bots can use various methods to attack organizations depending on their objectives and targets. Some of the common methods are:
Phishing attacks
Phishing attacks are attacks that use fraudulent emails or websites to trick users into revealing their credentials, personal information, or financial details. Phishing attacks can be performed by spam bots that send mass emails with malicious links or attachments, or by scraping bots that create fake websites that mimic legitimate ones.
Malware distribution campaigns
Malware distribution campaigns are attacks that use malicious software to infect systems or devices with viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, ransomware, or other harmful programs. Malware distribution campaigns can be performed by spam bots that send emails with malware-infected files or links, or by chatbot bots that persuade users to download malware-disguised apps or software.
Account takeover attacks
Account takeover attacks are attacks that use stolen credentials or access tokens to gain unauthorized access to user accounts on online platforms or services. Account takeover attacks can be performed by scraping bots that collect credentials from data breaches or phishing sites, or by chatbot bots that trick users into giving away their passwords or codes.
Business email compromise (BEC) attacks
Business email compromise (BEC) attacks are attacks that use spoofed or compromised email accounts to impersonate executives, employees, customers, vendors, or partners of an organization and request money transfers, invoice payments, or confidential information. BEC attacks can be performed by scraping bots that create fake email addresses or domains, or by deepfake bots that create fake voice calls or video conferences.
Ransomware attacks
Ransomware attacks are attacks that use malware to encrypt the data or files of a system or device and demand a ransom for their decryption. Ransomware attacks can be performed by spam bots that send emails with ransomware-infected files or links, or by chatbot bots that negotiate the ransom amount or payment method.
How to protect from Automated Social Engineering Bots
There is no foolproof way to prevent automated social engineering bot attacks. However, some measures can help reduce the risk and impact of such attacks. In this section, we will discuss some of the most effective measures for protecting organizations from automated social engineering bot attacks.
Security awareness training
Security awareness training is a measure that educates employees and users about the common types and signs of automated social engineering bot attacks and how to avoid them. Security awareness training can help increase the vigilance and resilience of employees and users against automated social engineering bot attacks.
Multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication is a measure that requires users to provide more than one piece of evidence to verify their identity when logging into an account or service. Multi-factor authentication can help prevent unauthorized access to accounts or services by automated social engineering bot attackers who have stolen credentials or access tokens.
Email filtering and spam protection
Email filtering and spam protection are measures that block or flag suspicious emails based on their sender, subject, content, attachment, link, or domain. Email filtering and spam protection can help prevent phishing emails and malware distribution emails from reaching the inboxes of employees and users.
Endpoint security solutions
Endpoint security solutions are measures that protect the systems or devices of employees and users from malware infection or data theft by automated social engineering bot attackers. Endpoint security solutions can include antivirus software, firewall software, encryption software, or backup software.
Network security solutions
Network security solutions are measures that protect the network or cloud services of an organization from unauthorized access or data exfiltration by automated social engineering bot attackers. Network security solutions can include VPN software, firewall hardware, intrusion detection systems, or access control systems.
Emerging trends in automated social engineering bot attacks
Automated social engineering bot attacks are constantly evolving and adapting to new technologies and environments. In this section, we will discuss some of the emerging trends in automated social engineering bot attacks that pose new challenges and threats to organizations.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to make bots more sophisticated and human-like
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that enables machines to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, or decision-making. AI can be used by automated social engineering bot attackers to make their bots more sophisticated and human-like, such as:
- Generating natural and convincing language
- Adapting to different contexts and scenarios
- Mimicking emotions and personalities
- Creating realistic images, videos, or audio
AI can make automated social engineering bot attacks more difficult to detect and resist by employees and users.
The targeting of social media platforms
Social media platforms are online platforms that allow users to create and share content, such as text, images, videos, or audio. Social media platforms can be used by automated social engineering bot attackers to target a large number of potential victims, such as:
- Creating fake profiles or pages
- Sending friend requests or messages
- Posting comments or reviews
- Sharing links or media
Social media platforms can make automated social engineering bot attacks more effective and widespread by exploiting the trust and influence of users.
The targeting of mobile devices
Mobile devices are devices that can be carried and used anywhere, such as smartphones, tablets, or laptops. Mobile devices can be used by automated social engineering bot attackers to target users who are on the go, such as:
- Sending text messages or calls
- Pushing notifications or alerts
- Installing apps or software
- Accessing location or camera
Mobile devices can make automated social engineering bot attacks more convenient and stealthy by taking advantage of the mobility and connectivity of users.
Conclusion
Automated social engineering bots are a new threat to organizations that can cause significant damage to their reputation, productivity, security, and finances. In this article, we explained what automated social engineering bots are, how they work, why they are a threat to organizations, and how to protect yourself from them. We also discussed some of the emerging trends in automated social engineering bot attacks that pose new challenges and threats to organizations. We hope that this article will help you to build more secure and resilient organizations against automated social engineering bot attacks.
