With new projects and innovative minds each year, BYU Capstone always promises to bring original ideas to the worlds of engineering and cybersecurity. One promising project this year is exploring a field of cybersecurity called social engineering.
Social Engineering is the practice of manipulating human psychology so that people reveal confidential information, as opposed to other attacks where hackers use technical vulnerabilities to expose information. Hackers may use information about someone's family or connections to sound more reliable and so that people are more likely to reveal information. In corporate settings or government settings, employees are not always trained to recognize and properly respond to social engineering threats.
The Capstone team tackling this issue is composed of five Cybersecurity seniors, one Information Technology senior, and one Mechanical Engineering major. Together, they are developing a social engineering practice platform that allows people to ethically practice social engineering with AI characters in hopes of helping people identify when social engineering is used against them and to avoid falling victim to it. Eventually, the practice platform may be used in introductory cybersecurity classes at BYU.
Team member, Ethan Beere, has enjoyed his time as part of Capstone thus far, describing it as a rewarding experience. Beere reflects on how the team has made consistent progress together: “Each member brings unique skills and perspectives, creating a collaborative environment where we complement one another’s strengths.”
Although the team has made great progress, it has not come without its challenges. The team must manage both the roles of project manager and developer simultaneously. While it is challenging to properly document and report progress while also managing the technical demands of the project, it has given the team excellent practice that will benefit their future careers.
Working on this project has created numerous opportunities to infuse unique personality and ideas into the platform. Beere shares that “it’s been exciting to see our ideas take shape as we progress, transforming initial sketches and plans into a functioning platform.” The team has had the chance to make many creative decisions about the storyline and layout of the platform, which has allowed experimentation with many design concepts and interactive features.
The social engineering team is making excellent progress toward creating a future where the public is better informed about cybersecurity threats.