Social engineering is the attack vector that depends mainly on human interaction and especially involves manipulating folks into breaking basic security policies and best practices to acquire unlawful access to systems, networks, or real locations or for monetary gain. Threats usually employ social engineering strategies to cover up their true motives, identities and present themselves as trusted information sources and individuals. The rationale is to influence or trick users into releasing crucial information or access within an enterprise.
Social engineering has become a popular technique among attackers in recent times because it is easier to exploit users than to find a software vulnerability. The activity is now a norm in Singapore, and most companies are losing sensitive information through their employees. However, suppose you have been a victim before, or you are yet to fall into criminals` traps, https://www.nettitude.com/hk/penetration-testing/social-engineering/ services will guide you through the various tactics, advantages of social engineering testing, and the different strategies scammers employ to trap users. What are the various types of social engineering attacks? Undeniably, social engineering attacks are widespread and take multiple forms and tactics, including:
- This is where a fraudster lures an individual to do something for them based on bait. For instance, since the scammer knows the conduct and patterns of employees in an enterprise, the scammer can leave a spyware-infected appliance such as a USB flash drive in a place it is sure to be found, such as the office exit. Not knowing why the USB appliance has been left there, the aimed individual picks it up and puts it into their computer because the gadget could be of high value and contains many exciting files, only to find that the individual has installed malware.
- Phishing is a popular social engineering attack, and anyone who has at least used mail might have received a phishing attack at some point. Mostly, malicious parties send fraudulent emails, often claiming to be from people known to you. The text is typically meant to entice the person into doing a task for the scammers. For example, fraudsters can trick you into sharing financial or personal information or clicking a link that installs a virus. A more prevalent type of phishing is spear-phishing, where the criminals research the aimed person and send them enticing mail.
- It is also known as voice phishing that happens through voice calls. It is prevalent, and attackers use enticing words to gather financial or personal information from an individual. Mostly, attackers employ clever tactics to lower the intuition of the person. However, after gaining the data, the fraudster implements social engineering on the individual.
- Whaling a specific phishing attack that targets high profile employees such as managers, chief executive officers, or chief financial officers into disclosing sensitive information. Because scammers deal with intelligent people, they play smartly to trick them.
- Dumpster diving. This is a social engineering attack whereby attackers search a company’s trash to find crucial information such as access codes or passwords written on scrap papers to infiltrate its network.
Prevention of Social Engineering Attacks
There are several mechanisms targeted persons and organizations can employ to evade social engineering attacks, such as:
- Penetration testing. The organization’s technological department should conduct regular penetration testing using social engineering tactics. This is helpful for the company’s management under popular tactics used by fraudsters. After understanding the common risks, the organization can initiate an employee training program to conceal loopholes.
- Implementation of secure email and web gateways. Companies or individuals should implement secure email and web gateways to scan malicious emails and filter out illegal links to minimize the risks of being enticed by fraudsters.
- Install spam filters. Spam filters will be helpful to determine emails likely to be spam. Filters shall have a blacklist of suspicious senders’ IDs or internet protocol addresses.
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Conclusion
Social engineering attacks are common, and most individuals or organizations become victims daily. Before clicking an email link or sharing your financial or personal information, it is essential to employ all prevention measures to avoid being conned.