The impact of source characteristics on users' susceptibility to social engineering Victimization in social networks

摘要

This research investigates the impact of attacker characteristics on users’ susceptibility to social engineering deception in social networks, particularly Facebook. The research starts with a qualitative exploratory study followed by a quantitative experimental study to identify the source characteristics that influence Facebook users to judge an attacker as credible. The results have shown that the perceived sincerity, competence, attraction, and worthiness of a source are significant predictors of susceptibility to social engineering victimization. The results have also explained which, and to which extent, source characteristics influence Facebook users to judge an attacker according to one of the source credibility dimensions.