In a social engineering attack, the attacker obtains or compromises information about a company or its computer systems through human interaction (social skills). By posing as a researcher, repairman, or new hire and even providing credentials to back up their
identification, an attacker may appear humble and trustworthy. On the other hand, he or she could be able to gather enough information by asking questions to get access to an organization's network. An attacker may contact another source within the same organization if they are unable to obtain sufficient information from one source, then use the information from the first source to strengthen their credibility.
Common Types of Social Engineering Attacks
Baiting
Baiting is a social engineering attack where an attacker lures a victim into performing a specific action, often by offering something enticing, like free software, a USB drive, or an exclusive offer. Once the victim interacts with the bait, it can lead to malware infections, data breaches, or unauthorized access to sensitive information.
Phishing
Phishing is a cyberattack where attackers impersonate trusted entities to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information, such as passwords, credit card details, or personal data. This is often done through deceptive emails, messages, or fake websites designed to look legitimate.
Vishing and Smishing
These social engineering attacks are variants of phishing, also referred to as voice fishing, which is a method of simply calling and asking for information. The attacker may appear to be a coworker, such as asking login credentials from the IT helpdesk. Instead, smishing tries to get this information through SMS messages.
Pretexting
Pretexting is a social engineering attack in which an attacker creates a situation in order to manipulate victims into exposing private information. Attackers obtain access to private, financial, or private information by posing as a reliable individual, such as an authority figure or a representative of the company.
Ways To Avoid Social Engineering Attacks
Step 1: Use a spam filter
You may want to change the settings if your email application isn't filtering emails as suspicious or filtering out enough spam. To identify which emails are most likely to be spam, effective spam filters apply many kinds of information. They may have a blacklist of suspicious IP addresses or sender IDs, identify questionable files or links, or examine message content to identify potentially fake ones.
Step 2: Don’t provide personal information
Avoid sharing personal information online, such as your full name, address, phone number, or financial information, to protect your privacy. You risk a chance of identity theft, scams, or unauthorized access to your accounts if you share sensitive information. Before providing them any personal information, be cautious and confirm the credentials of websites or people.
Step 3: Enforce multi factor authentication (MFA)
Enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA), which provides an additional layer of security on top of a password, will improve your security. With MFA, users must confirm their identity using a number of methods, such a fingerprint scan or a code texted to their phone. Even in the case that credentials are hacked, this helps stop unwanted access.
Step 4: Install and maintain anti-virus software
Installing and keeping anti-virus software on your devices allows you to detect and stop ransomware, malware, and other cyber threats. Updating your program guarantees that it can successfully defend against the most recent security threats. Frequent scans and real-time security keep your device operating smoothly, your data safe, and your system safe.
