Social Engineering Attacks & Prevention

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Is your organization prepared to recognize and prevent social engineering attacks? Here’s what you need to know to protect your business.

What is social engineering?

Social engineering is a cybercrime tactic aimed at luring or manipulating well-intentioned individuals into breaking security protocols or giving up confidential information. Attackers often prey on human psychology, such as their victim’s pride, authority, greed, or even just their willingness to help another individual, and exploit it. For example, an attacker might pose as someone in distress or a coworker with an urgent problem.

6 Types of social engineering

1) Clickbait

What if we emailed you a link that said “Watch Huge Bear Eat Man Alive!” Would you click it? What about something a little more believable – “Would You Do THIS at Work?” Even if you wouldn’t click on a headline like that, someone would! Likely, someone in your organization. Attackers know this and they prey on it.

2) Phishing

Have you ever gotten an email saying something like “You’re the winner of $X. Please confirm your banking information to claim your prize.”? This is a prime example of phishing, when an attacker uses a fake email to get someone to give them money or other sensitive information.

3) Pretexting

Pretexting is almost exactly what it sounds like . . . when attackers come up with a good pretext or scenario, they can use to get personal or confidential information. While phishing relies on a quick decision and action from the victim, pretexting relies more on a credible story and building a sense of trust with the victim.

4) Watering hole attacks

A watering hole attack is when an attacker observes which websites their target victims often visit, and then infects those websites with malware.

5) Ransomware

Ransomware can be one of the most devastating types of attacks. It’s when someone holds important files or a part of a system “ransom” and won’t return access unless they are paid.

6) Quid pro quo

A quid pro quo scam often involves an attacker trying to swap something in exchange for information. For example, someone may email you saying they will give you a gift card in exchange for a password as part of a research project or experiment.

What can you do?

  • Invest in cybersecurity – With the right IT and communications partner, many of these scam attempts can be prevented or intercepted.
  • Know the source – Many people open, and respond to, emails without really looking at who they came from. Hackers are sophisticated and may email you from a completely legitimate-looking source, for example, just one letter off from an email address you’re familiar with.
  • Slow down and think – Before giving away ANY sort of information, just slow down and think. Is this a good decision? Why does this person need this information? Is this a person/source I trust?
  • Education – The most effective way to prevent against social engineering scams is to educate your employees on all of the above. In this case, knowledge is absolutely power. The more employees know about the methods most commonly used, and the risks associated with giving out sensitive information, the better.

We are cybersecurity experts. We can help you employ a customized plan to prevent against social engineering attacks and more. Give us a call!