The book’s ten chapters provide background on deception techniques and then examples linked to cyber deception. The introduction, “Cyberanthropology of Deception,” shows that deception is an old tactic, with evidence dating back to 2500 BCE. Examples can be found everywhere, from art to war.

The book begins with one of the longest chapters, “The Psychology of Deception,” which provides insight into how deception works. The last part of this chapter is devoted to the specific area of digital deception. Chapter 2, “Virtual Myths: Internet Urban Legend, Chain Letters, and Warnings,” describes each of these topics and how they are abused. It provides clues for recognizing these deceptions and how to defend against them.

Chapter 3, “Viral Influence: Deceptive Computing Attacks Through Persuasion,” presents two models: the elaboration likelihood model and the heuristic-systematic model. It then shows how deceptive computing attacks like hoaxes, scareware, technical support scams, and ransomware incorporate these elements of persuasion. In chapter 4, “Social Dynamics of Deception,” deception between participants in underground online economies plays a prime role. Market participants advertise their offer, price, and payment method. Chapter 5 covers four main topics: phishing, watering holes, scareware, and ransomware.

Chapter 6 is “Seeing is Not Believing: Deceptive Internet Video Communications.” Photo and film deception dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. Today’s images and videos are likely “enhanced,” and manipulation tools to deceive are readily available and affordable to anyone.

Chapter 7 covers cyber jihad and how deception is used in terrorism, and chapter 8 gives an overview of nation-state cyberattacks and the expected future of these conflicts.

Chapter 9, “Sweet Deception: Honeypots,” looks at the defensive use of deception. Honeypots, honeynets, and honeytokens attempt to look like attractive targets and then monitor anyone abusing them. The book ends with chapter 10, “Looking Forward: Deception in the Future.”

This book brings together two worlds: sociopsychological research and information security. It is one thing to point at the human factor in security and another to actually use research on human behavior to improve protective and detective countermeasures. The book should help readers anticipate the next steps in malicious deception, but may be more effective if read in conjunction with [1,2,3,4].

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