Have you ever struck up a conversation with a stranger? Someone you had no idea who they were? What if I told you that you might have given that stranger your User ID and Password to all your data! No, you didn't specifically state, This is my User ID and This is my Password! If you told this stranger anything about yourself; where you were from, what you did for a living, wife's name or other personal information, you might have started the fuse for them to find out what you use as your User ID and Password for particular sites or even for your computer. Now you are saying, Nope, I don't use personal information for that type of stuff. Well, chances are, you do! Most people use a User ID and a Password that they will remember easily. This means that they use information from their personal lives to make up that data.
There is a group of people out there that call themselves Social Engineers. They are trained in the art of human hacking. In the quoting of Star Wars, They are strong in the ways of the force of gaining as much information about someone as they can so that they can hack their way into that person's life. This might seem scary to you, but honestly, it should strike some fear into you about what you share with others. The thing is, there are several sites that help one understand Social Engineering, the tools that are used and how to defend against it. Some sites include:
(LifeHacker) http://lifehacker.com/5933296/how-can-i-protect-against-hackers-who-use-sneaky-social-engineering-techniques-to-get-into-my-accounts
(CSO Online) http://www.csoonline.com/article/514063/social-engineering-the-basics
(Cisco) http://www.cisco.com/web/about/security/intelligence/mysdn-social-engineering.html
Those are only a select few in thousands of sites. These sites above really help the reader understand what Social Engineering is and how to defend against it at a level that anyone should be able to understand. Social Engineering is a great tool for people to find out information about other people. Don't let someone hack their way into your life by figuring out your User ID and Password. Defend against Social Engineering on a personal level before you find out that you are living in another state with another spouse and kids that aren't even yours!
