Presentation
How Persuasion Principles Influence Perceived Honesty During Shoulder Surfing Attacks
SessionPoster Session 1
DescriptionThis experiment investigated how use of the Principles of Persuasion in Social Engineering (PPSE) during shoulder surfing scenarios influenced perceptions of attacker honesty.
Participants read one of six shoulder surfing scenarios. Five described an attacker using one of the PPSEs. The sixth depicted an attacker using as few PPSEs as possible, which served as a control condition. Participants then rated perceived attacker honesty.
Participants in each condition perceived the attacker to be honest at the beginning of the conversation. However, perceived attacker honesty declined when the attacker asked to use the target’s computer. That decline was more pronounced when the attacker employed the Distraction or Social Proof PPSEs. As a result, participants perceived the attacker to be dishonest in those cases. Lastly, perceived attacker honesty did not change when the attacker used the target’s computer.
These results have important implications for shoulder surfing prevention training programs. For example, training should convey that people may be more susceptible to shoulder surfing attacks that employ the following PPSEs: 1) Authority, 2) Commitment, Reciprocation and Consistency, and 3) Liking, Similarity and Deception. To our knowledge, this experiment is the first to investigate how persuasion tactics affect perceptions of attackers during shoulder surfing attacks.
Participants read one of six shoulder surfing scenarios. Five described an attacker using one of the PPSEs. The sixth depicted an attacker using as few PPSEs as possible, which served as a control condition. Participants then rated perceived attacker honesty.
Participants in each condition perceived the attacker to be honest at the beginning of the conversation. However, perceived attacker honesty declined when the attacker asked to use the target’s computer. That decline was more pronounced when the attacker employed the Distraction or Social Proof PPSEs. As a result, participants perceived the attacker to be dishonest in those cases. Lastly, perceived attacker honesty did not change when the attacker used the target’s computer.
These results have important implications for shoulder surfing prevention training programs. For example, training should convey that people may be more susceptible to shoulder surfing attacks that employ the following PPSEs: 1) Authority, 2) Commitment, Reciprocation and Consistency, and 3) Liking, Similarity and Deception. To our knowledge, this experiment is the first to investigate how persuasion tactics affect perceptions of attackers during shoulder surfing attacks.
Event Type
Poster
TimeTuesday, October 14th5:30pm - 6:30pm CDT
LocationRiverside East