What is social engineering and how to prevent such attacks?

One of the most common cybersecurity attacks is social engineering (or social manipulation). What is it? And how can you, as an employee, stop such attacks from happening?

One of the most common cybersecurity attacks is social engineering. Also known as “social manipulation”, it’s also called social engineering. What is social engineering and how can you, as an employee, stop it from happening to your business?

What is social engineering?

Social engineering, also known as social manipulation, can be explained easily. It is a technique that cybercriminals use to manipulate human minds and the human instinct for trust in order obtain login access or private information.

These scams are carried out by cybercriminals who manipulate users’ behaviour using carefully written emails, voicemails or text messages. They convince them to transfer money, give confidential information, and download malware-infected files on their company network.

These social engineering techniques have one thing in common. They all use the human element to trick.

What would a social engineering attack look?

There are many kinds of social engineering frauds. There are many types of social engineering frauds, including phishing attacks, where victims are tricked to provide confidential information, vishing attacks, where victims are convinced to respond to a phone call or voice mail with fake instructions, and physical tailgating, which rely on trust to gain access to the premises. Ole William Angelson is the Chief Information Security Officer for Visma.

“Very often, we see these social engineering attempts have an element of urgency in their them, like a bank transaction which needs to be completed by a very short deadline. This is to try to limit victims’ ability think clearly.”

These are the most popular social engineering techniques:

• Baiting: A technique that lures people into falling for false promises. This can be done online or in person.
• Malware: Psychological manipulation used to trick users into believing malware has been installed on their devices and to make them pay a certain amount to get rid of it.
• Pretexting A fake identity and scenario are used to trick victims into giving their information.
• Tailgating To monitor employees who enter the workplace without having access to the building (for example, codes and access cards).
• Phishing — Techniques include creating fake websites, emails, and text messages in order to steal information. These emails are sent out to thousands of people, and they do not target you.
• SMS Phishing: Phishing via phone and SMS
• Spear Phishing This is the same as phishing, but it targets a specific person or company (often the CEO or the entire company).
• Vishing: Voicemail or phone call pretending that someone is calling and asking employees to take action quickly. It’s basically phishing over the phone. Scammers with more sophisticated techniques can use voice changers to disguise identity and change voices to a male or female voice.

How can you, as an employee, and your business prevent social engineering attacks from happening?

It is crucial for companies to work towards changing their behaviour and raising awareness about cyber attacks. Employees will be more alert and vigilant when they receive suspicious emails, calls or events. They will also be able to know how to respond.

Social manipulation is a serious problem. What can you do as an employee to avoid it?

Do not click on any suspicious links as an employee. Always verify the identity of the sender if you get emails or phone calls. If you are unsure about the identity of the sender, you can call them back.

It is never too important to double-check emails. If in doubt, speak with your manager or colleagues. Be careful about who you allow into your office building. Avoid opening the door to strangers, especially if they don’t have a badge to prove their relationship to the workplace.

What can you do if your social engineering attacks are successful?

Don’t feel embarrassed, it can happen to anyone. Do not hide it. Instead, contact your security team immediately and provide as much detail as possible about the attack or scam.