Social Engineering Attacks: Common Technique and Prevention

Over the years, social engineering attacks against businesses have increased in frequency. In actuality, it has become more complex. It goes without saying that there won’t be a “stop sign” for cybercrimes any time soon. Instead, hackers are coming up with increasingly inventive ways to trick users into giving private information.

It is imperative that businesses carry out thorough research and uses the appropriate equipment to stay one step ahead of scammers.

What is Social Engineering?

Cybercriminals utilize social engineering, a type of psychological manipulation, to trick unwary users into breaching security and handing over their private data. Using human emotions like fear, curiosity, greed, rage, etc., a criminal might lure people into clicking harmful links or falling prey to physical tailgating assaults.

The two objectives of social engineering attackers are:

• They seek to tamper with data in order to inconvenience a company.
• They seek to steal money and information or get access to other people’s systems.

Frequently Used Social Engineering Attack Methods

Here is a brief summary of the most prevalent social engineering frauds perpetrated on contemporary businesses and people.

Phishing

The most frequent and extensively used social engineering assault is phishing. The fraudster utilizes cunning and deceit to induce a person or organization to reveal their PII and other assets via email, chat, online ads, or websites.

Read: Microsoft; How Credit Card Skimmers are Hiding their Attacks

The con artist may pose as a bank, a government agency, or a big firm, for instance, in order to gain the faith of the innocent victim. The email might ask the recipients to visit a link to access their accounts as the source. After that, they are forwarded to a bogus website that seems authentic, and that is where the assault happens.

Here are a few phishing-based social engineering scams:

• Banking Link Scam: Hackers send you an email with a fake link to your bank account in an attempt to fool you into entering your bank ID and password.
• Facebook Message Link Scam: This one is frequent after the demise of a famous person.
• Fax Notice Scam: This is a fake link that leads to fake fax. However, it will seriously harm your computer. This is extremely typical, particularly for businesses that continue to use fax machines often, such as document management, title agencies, insurance, and other financial services organizations.
• Fraudulent Court Secretary Complaint Link: Here is a fake link that supports your concern. We have a feeling you’ll soon be whining about something else.

Ransomware

Ransomware distribution in phishing emails has dramatically increased in recent years. They often send an attachment with either a file extension of “.PDF.zip” or “.PDF.rar,” such as “URGENT ACCOUNT INFO,” which sneaks past the unwary victim and drops the payload. This assault frequently encrypts the whole hard drive or the documents. Fortunately, these organizations do in fact unlock the data, increasing the likelihood that future victims will pay.

Baiting

Baiting is using false promises to lure the victim into their trap and con them into passing over their login information.

For instance, the con artist may hide a malware-infected, genuine-appearing flash drive {or bait}in the least suspect location, such as a business’s restroom or elevator. Tempting labels on the bait, such as a payroll list or an appraisal list, will make it easy to input it into a computer.

Tailgating

Tailgating is entering a prohibited location without appropriate authorization by physically getting around the security mechanisms in place.

For instance, the attacker may start a discussion with a worker in the lobby or parking lot and take advantage of their familiarity to access the business space and bypass the receptionist.

Read: What is a Mobile Threat Defense?

Social Engineering Attack Warning Signs

Knowing the warning signals and avoiding assaults is one of the greatest strategies to guard against social engineering. Some of the red flags include:

• Requesting quick help.
• Asking for confirmation of information.
• Acting too amiable or enthusiastic.
• Showing nervousness upon questioning.
• The exaggeration of details
• Luring with deals that are too good to be true.
• Threatening reprimands.

Guidelines for Preventing Social Engineering Attacks

Take caution while sharing information. You don’t need to be very concerned about these assaults, and no. It is feasible to stop them. Here are a few strategies that may be used.

1. Turn up the spam filters. Spam filters are present in all email clients. Look carefully through your configuration choices and set the settings too high to find out. It will greatly assist you in avoiding spam texts.
2. Never make use of the same password across many accounts. Once the attacker has control of one account, they can hack into more accounts.
3. Authenticate with two-factor or more factors. Your bank accounts can no longer be secured with just a password. Just as important are extra layers. It might be a captcha, a fingerprint scan, a security question, or SMS confirmation codes.
4. Change passwords straight away if you have any doubts. Change all of your passwords right away if you believe you may have given your password to a spammer.
5. Educate the workforce; the key is knowledge. Keep your staff informed of the most recent social engineering dangers and assist them when required in exercising care

Other ways include:

Read: The Hidden Value of a Notary For your Business

• NEITHER open spam folder emails nor emails from recipients you do not know.
• AVOID opening attachments in emails with an unknown sender.
• Use a trustworthy antivirus program; Kaspersky or Symentec are my recommendations.
• Regularly backup your data to an external disk (external hard drive or the cloud).
• Disconnect your drive after backing up.
• AVOID paying the ransom. Since victims continue to pay, criminals continue to use this kind of blackmailing attack. Consult a specialist in your region to see if you can try to get your data back.
• An external party should carry out a social engineering exam on employees.

Be on the Look Out!

A business network may be compromised in a variety of ways nowadays, but ultimately the person is most vulnerable to assault. Attackers will use whatever method to gain access to a network and steal information, but social engineering is the most common and effective.

Sadly, the majority of businesses appear to focus their entire defensive strategy on software and hardware solutions to prevent these dangers from ever reaching personnel.

The first step in defending a business against these assaults is education. Lessening the risk of a successful assault requires educating people on what to look for when they receive an email, a phone call from new mobile numbers, or other communication from someone asking for information or encouraging them to click on anything.

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