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D: How many digits is the cost center? For example, what’s your cost center?

P: Well, like, are you with 9WC or with SAT?

Didi had no idea what departments or groups these referred to, but it didn’t matter. She answered:

D: 9WC.

P: Then it’s usually four digits. Who did you say you were with?

D: Headquarters—Thousand Oaks.

P: Well, here’s one for Thousand Oaks. It’s 1A5N, that’s N like in Nancy.

By just hanging out long enough with somebody willing to be helpful, Didi had the cost center number she needed—one of those pieces of information that no one thinks to protect because it seems like something that couldn’t be of any value to an outsider.

The Third Call: A Helpful Wrong Number

Didi’s next step would be to parlay the cost center number into something of real value by using it as a poker chip.

She began by calling the Real Estate department, pretending she had reached a wrong number. Starting with a “Sorry to bother you, but ... ,” she claimed she was an employee who had lost her company directory, and asked who you were supposed to call to get a new copy. The man said the print copy was out of date because it was available on the company intranet site.

Didi said she preferred using a hard copy, and the man told her to call Publications, and then, without being asked—maybe just to keep the sexy-sounding lady on the phone a little longer—helpfully looked up the number and gave it to her.

The Fourth Call: Bart in Publications

In Publications, she spoke with a man named Bart. Didi said she was from Thousand Oaks, and they had a new consultant who needed a copy of the company directory. She told him a print copy would work better for the consultant, even if it was somewhat out of date. Bart told her she’d have to fill out a requisition form and send the form over to him.

Didi said she was out of forms and it was a rush, and could Bart be a sweetheart and fill out the form for her? He agreed with a little too much enthusiasm, and Didi gave him the details. For the address of the fictional contractor, she drawled the number of what social engineers call a mail drop, in this case a Mail Boxes Etc.-type of commercial business where her company rented boxes for situations just like this.

The earlier spadework now came in handy: There would be a charge for the cost and shipping of the directory. Fine—Didi gave the cost center for Thousand Oaks:

“1A5N, that’s N like in Nancy.”

A few days later, when the corporate directory arrived, Didi found it was an even bigger payoff than she had expected: It not only listed the names and phone numbers, but also showed who worked for whom—the corporate structure of the whole organization.

The lady of the husky voice was ready to start making her head-hunter, people-raiding phone calls. She had conned the information she needed to launch her raid using the gift of gab honed to a high polish by every skilled social engineer. Now she was ready for the payoff.

Analyzing the Con

In this social engineering attack, Didi started by getting phone numbers for three departments in the target company. This was easy, because the numbers she was asking for were no secret, especially to employees. A social engineer learns to sound like an insider, and Didi was skilled at this game. One of the phone numbers led her to a cost center number, which she then used to obtain a copy of the firm’s employee directory.

lingo

MAIL DROP The social engineer’s term for a rental mailbox, typically rented under an assumed name, which is used to deliver documents or packages the victim has been duped into sending.

mitnick message

Just like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, each piece of information may be irrelevant by itself. However, when the pieces are put together, a clear picture emerges. In this case, the picture the social engineer saw was the entire internal structure of the company

The main tools she needed: sounding friendly, using some corporate lingo, and, with the last victim, throwing in a little verbal