(NEXSTAR) – The Federal Bureau of Investigations on Friday issued an alert concerning Scattered Spider, a cybercriminal organization currently targeting the airline industry. The group, which is also said to be behind cyberattacks on multiple Las Vegas casinos in 2023, is said to rely heavily on “social engineering” techniques for its attacks, a tactic used to gain trust with victims.

“In a social engineering attack, an attacker uses human interaction (social skills) to obtain or compromise information about an organization or its computer systems,” the Homeland Security Department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) explains of these types of scams. Attackers may then use that information to pose as a trusted figure working at, or with, the victim’s company in order to gain access, CISA says.

Specific examples of Scattered Spider’s social engineering tactics include “impersonating employees or contractors to deceive IT help desks into granting access,” or “convincing help desk services........

© The Hill