• Shivam Maurya
• July 27, 2024
• No Comments

In the current digital age technology has started to enhance rapidly by offering multiple benefits to individuals. The evolving advancement of technology has increased the concern about cyber threats. By providing cybercriminals with sophisticated tools to access people’s personal information. Among different types of cyber threats social engineering has become prominent. Because of the strong focus on exploiting human vulnerabilities instead of the weakness of technology. Essential Infosec believes that it is important to highlight the concept of social engineering to protect personal and business databases and assets. This block will help you understand the concept of social engineering by considering its types and the process of recognising threats.

The concept of social engineering

Social engineering indicates the technique that has been used by cybercriminals to manipulate people. So that they share their confidential information or engage in the activities related to security breaches. In comparison to other cyber attacks social engineering focuses on the human elements. By depending on psychological manipulation instead of the exploitation of hardware or software vulnerabilities.

Different types of social engineering attacks

• Phishing attacks include fraudulent messages or emails that cannot be detected and appear from legitimate resources. It consists of malicious websites or links which are developed to steal personal information and login credentials.
• Tailgating indicates the physical version of social engineering which includes an authorised person depending on an authorised person to enter a secure area.
• Quid pro or Quo is associated with baiting that offers multiple benefits and services that require certain information. Following the characteristics of this attack cyber criminals offer technical support to the users. By raising a fake issue to get access to the login credentials.
• Pretexting allows cybercriminals to create a fake scenario to trap the victim and allow the person to share their sensitive information. In that case, the criminals might pretend to be a co-worker or a trusted person. So that it is possible to get access to their personal information.
• Spear Phishing is sophisticated phishing that includes personalised messages or emails for the targeted victim. In that case, the cyber criminals use personal information about the targeted person to make their appearance more reliable to the victim.

The process of recognising that attacks associated with social engineering

• You can recognise the social engineering attacks by focusing on the unexpected messages, phone calls and emails. It require urgent actions or personal databases.
• Secondly, you can understand the social engineering attack by observing the offers associated with free prizes, financial benefits or software by verifying their legitimacy and reliability.
• You can also check the actual destinations of suspicious attachments or links before clicking them and avoiding attachments from unknown resources.
• Social engineering attacker often seeks for personal or sensitive information via phone call or emails. These patterns of scams can help you to determine their reliability and prevent social engineering attacks.
• Another pattern of social engineering is emotional manipulation, social engineers focus on urgency, excitement and fear to target and manipulate the victims. In that case, you need to be careful while responding to messages which require immediate actions and personal information.

The prevention strategy of social engineering attacks

• Firstly you need to regularly educate yourself and train your employees. How ,they can recognise and respond to social engineering attacks. Awareness initiatives can help to reduce the risk of social engineering attacks by having a clear idea about its patterns.
• Secondly, you need to verify the identity of the person who requesting the personal information or asking for access to the secured folders or files.
• The establishment of robust security policies including strict guidelines for managing sensitive information, reporting malicious and suspicious activities and verifying. The request can help you to prevent social engineering attacks.
• Also, you can use a Multi-Factor Authentication system to limit the users of sensitive information and accounts.
• Keep all your systems and software up to date and include the latest security systems to reduce the risk of technical vulnerabilities.

Currently, social engineering has become more sophisticated and vulnerable for individuals which can interrupt our daily lives. As per our recommendation, you should enhance your understanding and technical literacy to prevent the upcoming challenges. Remember, technology has also given us the chance to prevent cyber attacks and protect our sensitive information. Essential Infosec as a cyber security organisation tells you to verify before trusting somebody and focus on enhancing your security strategies. You can successfully prevent the challenges by updating your security strategies and evaluating the current technology in your practice.