December 21, 2023 at 01:08PM
Security strategies often lag behind offensive attack tactics, leaving companies vulnerable to evolving threats. The help desk is particularly at risk, as cybercriminals target it to gain network access. Many companies lack robust validation procedures for help desk requests, making them susceptible to social engineering attacks. Strong security measures are recommended to safeguard the help desk from such threats.
Based on the meeting notes, it’s clear that the help desk is a vulnerable target for cyber attacks and social engineering tactics. The notes emphasize the need to implement robust validation procedures to ensure the identity of employees before carrying out any help desk actions such as password resets or issuing credentials.
The recommendations for protecting the help desk from social engineering include:
1. Restricting access to company-vetted or issued devices for corporate resources or applications.
2. Verifying the user’s identity by calling them on their trusted, registered device.
3. Using multifactor authentication (MFA) applications for authentication pushes, avoiding SMS or email for security reasons.
4. Requesting serial numbers of user devices and validating them.
5. Issuing authentication pushes for smartphone replacements and authentication of new devices.
6. Implementing password reset policies and ensuring user passwords are not known by IT.
7. Initiating video calls for verification in cases where an MFA push cannot be sent.
The meeting notes emphasize the importance of treating help desk security with the same focus and layers of protection as any other threat surface in the enterprise, given its vulnerability to cyber attacks.