In this scenario, the employee’s installation of remote access software at the behest of a fraudulent “MS Support” technician and the subsequent suspicious request for payment in gift cards are strong indicators of a social engineering attack. The presence of unencrypted database files on the system, coupled with the technician’s remote access, raises legitimate concerns about data disclosure. While HTTPS encrypts the data in transit, it does not prevent the remote user from copying files. Without concrete evidence, such as network logs showing data transfer, it is challenging to confirm the disclosure. However, given the circumstances, it is prudent to operate under the assumption that the database files could have been accessed and potentially copied during the remote session. The organization should follow its incident response protocol, which includes conducting a thorough investigation, changing passwords, and monitoring for potential data misuse.

References:

Cisco’s CyberOps curriculum emphasizes the importance of understanding security procedures and incident handling, which would include responding to potential data disclosure incidents1.

The Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate Overview outlines knowledge areas such as security concepts and intrusion analysis, relevant to investigating and responding to security incidents