A person claiming to be from central IT called Chris and asked him to participate in a password reset audit. The person had Chris change his password to the word "123456", and then again to a secret passphrase only Chris knew. Later that day Chris noticed odd system behavior, and then the system crashed. Chris was a victim of ________.
A) hacking
B) usurping
C) sniffing
D) pretexting
E) appropriating

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Pretexting involves the attacker creating a fabricated scenario (the pretext) to steal a victim's personal information. In this case, the attacker pretended to be from central IT to trick Chris into changing his password, which is a classic example of pretexting.

A Person Claiming to Be from Central IT Called Chris