The weakest link

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. When it come down to it, the weakest link in security is often men itself.

Kevin Mitnick has written a book on this subject, named The Art of Deception. Mr. Mitnick is probably the most famous social engineer in the world. A fugitive by the United States for many years, and has now served his time and serve as a security consultant. One little note, it is not reported of his activities bringing any direct harm to any company.

Human behaviour often understate the threat in order to satisfy their own safety needs. However, often falsely. One example is purchasing an expensive pick-proof lock at your home door, and thereby feeling comfortable that you have made the home safer for your family and yourself. However, the windows are still just as easy to break through.

Security is too often merely an illusion, an illusion sometimes made even worse when gullibility, naivete, or ignorance come into play. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying: "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

To help you overcome the illusion we will try to show some of the aspects where you should keep your eyes open over the next pages.