One of the most important things to remember about hackers, miscreants, malcontents, criminals and the like is that they’re not stupid. Many are considerably more antisocial than the immediate crime of trying to infiltrate your organisation, or your bank account already implies, and have the manipulative traits of a, if not psychopath, then certainly a sociopath.
Sociopaths are highly adept at manipulating people and taking advantage of psychological weak spots. And there’s no better weak spot than when your blood is up: emotions cloud better judgement, as anyone who has ever been angry knows all too well.
The term ‘narcissism’ is bandied about frequently these days as a component of sociopathy – or, indeed, the more diagnostically correct ‘antisocial personality disorder’. Often, narcissism is a loftily handed down diagnosis from singularly unqualified armchair psychologists on those they don’t like, narcissism is quite prevalent in today’s look-at-me social media milieu. I bring this up because narcissists are something all of us are likely to have encountered at one time or another.
And, of course, everyone is likely to have a degree of narcissism in their character, which might be more or less prevalent at any given time or station in life. This is why Daily Mail articles on ‘how to spot the narcissist’ attract so much attention, generating endless comments from those who see this trait so readily in others, if not themselves (self-awareness is SO important).
Of course, for those who need the quickest of refreshers, Narcissus is the Greek tragic who fell so in love with his own reflection the poor petal died of a broken heart. Petal, because there is a flower named for our hero.
Now, far from falling into the trap of diagnosing strangers we’ve never met with a personality disorder, even if those strangers are actively trying to separate us from our money, it’s safe to say the folks engaging in cybercrime probably are sociopaths. After all, they prey on society. And a good deal of them probably have the character traits of the malignant narcissist: manipulative, self-interested, lack of empathy, and aggressive malice.
Looking back at my previous article and the video of the dodgy Safa cybercrime outfit, it’s arguable these character traits are indeed present in the callous disregard for victims on display. It’s all about the money, with no concern for the impact on the people being taken not just for a ride, but a second ride – because those monsters target people who have already been scammed, with a scam ‘remedy’. Unbelievably cruel.
What’s all that got to do with Christmas and the festive season, you ask? The same thing, really, that it had to do with the recent United States election. While like you I’ve had quite enough of the spectacle of the Americans choosing a new President, big events that get people excited are seen just one way by cybercriminals.
Opportunity. When people are emotional and excited, manipulative narcissists and sociopaths pounce.
Dark Reading has the story, noting that ‘attackers have bolstered election-related threat activity since the beginning of the year with an increase in the sale of phishing kits targeting US voters and campaign donors; the registration of more than 1,000 domains aimed at exploiting election-related content for malicious purposes; and increased ransomware activity targeting government entities’.
As we all know, the Americans get, ah, quite passionate about their politics.
They, like us, also get quite passionate about Christmas and the holidays…along with the scammers, who see your dropped guard as the pathway towards a massive stocking over their fireplace.
So, that’s the message I’m leaving with you today. Whether Christmas, Easter, an election, a hikoi, or anything else where people get a bit excited and worked up, be extra careful when it comes to cybersecurity. Phishing emails, random text messages, weird phone calls which either confirm your strongly held belief, or go directly against it – but get the blood pumping, either way – is a tried and true technique for the miscreant. It works because when we get emotional, we stop thinking.
And when we stop thinking, they get one up on us.
Be safe this holiday season, have a very Merry Christmas, and don’t get scammed.
