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Role of Attention and Design Cues for Influencing Cyber-Sextortion Using Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks

Author

Listed:
  • Brent Pethers

    (School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia)

  • Abubakar Bello

    (School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia)

Abstract

Cyber sextortion attacks are security and privacy threats delivered to victims online, to distribute sexual material in order to force the victim to act against their will. This continues to be an under-addressed concern in society. This study investigated social engineering and phishing email design and influence techniques in susceptibility to cyber sextortion attacks. Using a quantitative methodology, a survey measured susceptibility to cyber sextortion with a focus on four different email design cues. One-way repeated measures ANOVA, post hoc comparison tests, Friedman nonparametric test, and Spearman correlation tests were conducted with results indicating that attention to email source and title/subject line significantly increased individuals’ susceptibility, while attention to grammar and spelling, and urgency cues, had lesser influence. As such, the influence of these message-related factors should be considered when implementing effective security controls to mitigate the risks and vulnerabilities to cyber sextortion attacks.

Suggested Citation

  • Brent Pethers & Abubakar Bello, 2023. "Role of Attention and Design Cues for Influencing Cyber-Sextortion Using Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jftint:v:15:y:2023:i:1:p:29-:d:1028361
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Workman, 2008. "Wisecrackers: A theory‐grounded investigation of phishing and pretext social engineering threats to information security," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 59(4), pages 662-674, February.
    2. Johnson, Paul E. & Grazioli, Stefano & Jamal, Karim & Zualkernan, Imran A., 1992. "Success and failure in expert reasoning," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 173-203, November.
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