CAPEC-421: Influence Perception of Authority |
 Description An adversary uses a social engineering technique to convey a sense of authority that motivates the target to reveal specific information or take specific action. There are various techniques for producing a sense of authority during ordinary modes of communication. One common method is impersonation. By impersonating someone with a position of power within an organization, an adversary may motivate the target individual to reveal some piece of sensitive information or perform an action that benefits the adversary. Likelihood Of Attack Typical Severity Prerequisites
| The adversary must have the means and knowledge of how to communicate with the target in some manner. |
Skills Required
[Level: Low] The adversary requires strong inter-personal and communication skills. |
Resources Required
| None: No specialized resources are required to execute this type of attack. |
Consequences  This table specifies different individual consequences associated with the attack pattern. The Scope identifies the security property that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in their attack. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative to the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a pattern will be used to achieve a certain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.| Scope | Impact | Likelihood |
|---|
Confidentiality Integrity Availability | Other | |
Mitigations
| An organization should provide regular, robust cybersecurity training to its employees to prevent social engineering attacks. |
Example Instances
| The adversary calls the target and announces that they are the head of IT at the target's company. The adversary goes on to say that there has been a technical issue and they need the target's login credentials for their account. By convincing the target of their authority, the adversary hopes the target will reveal the sensitive information. |
References  Content History | Submissions |
|---|
| Submission Date | Submitter | Organization |
|---|
| 2014-06-23 (Version 2.6) | CAPEC Content Team | The MITRE Corporation | | | Modifications |
|---|
| Modification Date | Modifier | Organization |
|---|
| 2017-08-04 (Version 2.11) | CAPEC Content Team | The MITRE Corporation | | Updated Attack_Motivation-Consequences, Attack_Prerequisites, Attacker_Skills_or_Knowledge_Required, Description Summary, Examples-Instances, Methods_of_Attack, Related_Attack_Patterns, Resources_Required, Solutions_and_Mitigations, Typical_Likelihood_of_Exploit | | 2018-07-31 (Version 2.12) | CAPEC Content Team | The MITRE Corporation | | Updated Description Summary | | 2020-07-30 (Version 3.3) | CAPEC Content Team | The MITRE Corporation | | Updated Example_Instances | | Previous Entry Names |
|---|
| Change Date | Previous Entry Name |
|---|
| 2017-08-04 (Version 2.11) | Target Influence via Perception of Authority | |
More information is available — Please select a different filter.
|
