Cameron Malin

Independent Researcher

For over half a century researchers have scientifically studied persuasion and influence. The corpus of this research resulted in established theories and practices that are effectively used in a myriad of contexts where human relationships and factors are paramount. This chapter first explores traditional psychological influence concepts and techn...

This chapter describes how jihadi movements utilize the Internet to shape the history and objectives of their movements, communicate ideological information to adherents as well as potential recruits, and provide a platform for fundraising as well. In addition, the chapter discusses how these movements have utilized the Internet to disseminate info...

The basis of deception is misdirection—shaping the perceptions and beliefs of the target audience. This chapter begins by exploring some of the traditional deception methods used by magicians and how these techniques can be similarly leveraged by cyber threat actors to circumvent human defenses. In particular, the first section of the chapter provi...

Chapter Four delves deeply into human actors involved in underground cyber markets in order to better understand how they function and what social dynamics shape the behavior of users. In particular, this chapter focuses on markets where individuals sell cybercrime as a service, including malware, hacking services, Distributed Denial of Service (DD...

As victim organizations and users have become more cautious and aware of certain cyber attacks, cyber threat actors have developed new, creative methods to circumvent technical countermeasures and user vigilance. This chapter explores how attackers use deception strategies and techniques to skillfully circumvent human defenses. The chapter first lo...

This chapter explores how story narrative can captivate, compel, and deceive the receiving audience. The history and elements of urban legends, hoaxes, and chain communications are examined as underpinnings of deception strategies. The chapter then examines the evolution of these types of communications and how traditional urban myths and hoax comm...

This chapter focuses on deceptive techniques used in video, specifically applied to Internet video communications. A discussion of deception used in still photography and in film ground the concepts in history with contemporary examples highlighting its role. Some of the historical techniques used to fake photography and create special effects for...

This chapter looks to the future to discuss how the advancements of technology and cyber communications will impact deceptive techniques. While the future will no doubt bring about new and creative methods of deception, there several interesting topics that are already in development including nanotechnology, quantum stealth, and advanced drones. T...

This chapter describes the nature of asymmetric warfare on the Internet and how online deception plays a key role in psychological operations by both nation states and non-nation state actors. The role that the cyber domain plays in nationalism and nation state espionage is discussed and in particular China is held up as an example of how these con...

This chapter provides the reader with a description of a set of technologies collectively known as “honey” technologies. The beginning discussion provides the reader with a brief history of early and often unintended honey technology experiences from the likes of Cliff Stoll, Bill Cheswick, and Fred Cohen. The next section focuses on the idea of ho...

As memory forensics evolves, an increasing amount of information— ranging from hidden and terminated processes, to traces of memory injection and hooking techniques used by malware, to metadata and memory contents associated with specific processes, to executables and network connections—can be extracted from full memory dumps, providing critical e...

Linux Malware Incident Response is a "first look" at the Malware Forensics Field Guide for Linux Systems, exhibiting the first steps in investigating Linux-based incidents. The Syngress Digital Forensics Field Guides series includes companions for any digital and computer forensic investigator and analyst. Each book is a "toolkit" with checklists f...

Through the file profiling method, tools, and techniques discussed in Chapter 5, forensic investigators can gain important insight into the dependencies, strings, antivirus signatures, and metadata associated with a suspect file and use this knowledge to learn more about the file. Building on that information, this chapter further explores the natu...

The Syngress Digital Forensic Field Guides series is a hand-held companion for any digital and computer forensic investigator and analyst. Each book is a "tool" with checklists for specific tasks, case studies of difficult situations, and expert analyst tips. Growth in technology has resulted in more technology crimes spurring the need for more com...

Malware Forensics: Investigating and Analyzing Malicious Code covers the emerging and evolving field of "live forensics," where investigators examine a computer system to collect and preserve critical live data that may be lost if the system is shut down. Unlike other forensic texts that discuss "live forensics" on a particular operating system, or...