Social Engineering Game Instructions

Social Engineering Capture the Points

Social engineering is the most effective way to bypass any hardware or software systems in place. Organizations can spend millions on security, only to have it all bypassed with a simple phone call.

In this game you will social engineer each other, and others, to acquire information or to elicit predetermined behavior.  The social engineering missions will be on index cards and one new one will be available to be chosen at random per student at every class.  If you do not complete the mission by the next class that mission expires and can no longer be completed by you.  If you do not complete a mission you neither gain nor lose points.

For each social engineering hack you successfully complete you will be required to share the details of what you did on the blog.  Your classmates will be able to then respond to your post by suggesting the number of points you be awarded for your hack. 

·         2 points for an easy hack

·         5 for a medium difficulty hack

·         10 points for a difficult hack

Your classmates may mock your easy hacks and recommend low point values.  Or they may congratulate you and offer up high point values for your hack.  Ultimately, the professors will decide the point value and post the rewarded value at the end of the blog post. 

For some missions you may decide to take on a sidekick.  If you choose to engage a sidekick, the sidekick must be rewarded for his/her role in your mission.  The sidekick will be awarded 2 points for successfully helping you complete a mission.  However, the sidekick can turn against you, as they can also be awarded 2 points for causing your mission to fail.  As such, your sidekick might actually be working against you, so be careful.  If you and a sidekick successfully complete a mission against another player in the class, the points awarded will be deducted from the targets point total.

If you attempt a hack mission and fail, you must report the mission and failure on the blog.  You will not be penalized for a failure, unless the mission’s target was a fellow player.  If the targeted fellow player blocks your hack, they will be awarded 2 points which will be deducted from your point total.

Social engineering is as much about learning how to target and acquire information, as it is about preventing you from being the target of it.  If you are the object of a hack, the student who hacked you steals the number of points they earn from your point total.  As such you need to be on your guard. 

A running tally of scores will be kept and shared on the blog regularly to encourage you to continue social engineering your way to the top of the leader board.  The game will run until the end of the semester, with final point tallies being calculated the last week of classes.  The point totals will determine approximately 12% of your grade for the course.