Updated on May 5, 2023 by Anthony Jones
Over the years, social engineering attacks on businesses have gotten more notorious. It has become even more advanced. Cybercrime will not be put on hold any time soon. As a result, hackers have had to get more inventive in their attempts to trick employees and others into disclosing their personal information. It’s time for companies like yours to perform proper research and use the necessary tools to stay ahead of scammers.
The Rising Risk of Social Engineering Attacks
Social engineering is an increasingly common attack, as it is often more effective and less expensive than other types of attacks. Attackers can target anyone, regardless of their technical knowledge. That’s why it’s important to be aware of the threat and take steps to protect yourself, and your company.
The rising risk of social engineering attacks is a serious concern for businesses and individuals alike. This type of attack is often used to gain access to sensitive information or systems and can be very difficult to detect and prevent.
Businesses need to be aware of the risks posed by social engineering attacks and take steps to protect themselves. This includes educating employees about the dangers of these attacks and implementing security measures such as two-factor authentication. Individuals also need to be aware of the risks and take steps to protect themselves. This includes being cautious about giving out personal information, being suspicious of unsolicited communications, and not clicking on links or opening attachments from unknown sources.
What Is Social Engineering?
Social engineering is a form of cyberattack where hackers utilize psychological manipulation to trick unwitting victims into making security blunders and handing over their personal data. Social engineering is the manipulation of human emotions like greed, fear, rage, curiosity, etc., to get victims to click on harmful URLs or participate in physical tailgaters.
The purpose of social engineering attackers is one of two things:
- They want to disrupt a company’s operation by tampering with its data.
- They want to steal data and/or money.
For example, when posing as IT helpdesk staff, an intruder could act as a user and ask for personal information such as a user name and password. The fact that so many individuals are willing to give over their personal information, especially if it appears to be coming from a reputable representative, is astonishing. Essentially, social engineering is the use of deception to persuade others to give up their personal information or data to gain access to it.
How Does Social Engineering Work?
In social engineering, attackers use human interaction to trick people into revealing information that they wouldn’t otherwise give up. They are able to do this by posing as a customer service representative and asking for your account number, or pretending to be a co-worker and requesting your password. Attackers can also use physical means to access information, such as dumpster diving or shoulder surfing. Once they have access information, they can use it to commit fraud or identity theft.
Why Social Engineering Attacks Are Difficult to Detect
Social engineering attacks can be difficult to detect and prevent due to the methods used by attackers to manipulate victims. These attacks often target individuals within an organization, rather than the organization itself, making detecting and preventing them more challenging. These attackers expertly exploit individuals’ inherent trust and willingness to help others, rendering it difficult for victims to recognize the attack. Furthermore, these attacks frequently do not involve the use of malware or other technical indicators, presenting a challenge for traditional security tools to detect them.
The complexity and sophistication of the tactics utilized by social engineering attackers contribute to the difficulty faced by organizations in detecting and preventing various types of attacks. Moreover, the constant evolution of social engineering attacks presents an ongoing challenge to organizations attempting to counter attackers’ latest tactics and methods.
Social Engineering Attacks: Recognizing the Telltale Signs
Social engineering attacks are difficult to detect, as the attacker’s goal is to make their message look as legitimate as possible. However, some signs you can look for may indicate that a message is part of a calculated attack. These include unexpected requests for sensitive information, a sense of urgency or threats, and text messages that are not addressed to you by name.
Secondly, be wary if you receive an unsolicited email or message from someone purporting to be from a legitimate organization or company. This is especially true if the message contains personal information or asks you to click a link. If you receive a suspicious text message, you should not respond to it and should report it to the organization it claims to be from.
Messages from social engineers often have a sense of urgency or threaten some sort of negative consequence if the victim does not respond. For example, the attacker may claim that the victim’s account has been compromised and that they need to provide their login information to prevent it from being suspended.
Understanding the warning signs and avoiding attacks are two of the greatest strategies to protect your company from social engineering attacks. Some of the indicators that you should be on the lookout for include:
- Requesting emergency help.
- Asking for proof of your identity.
- Excessively friendly speech.
- An excessive focus on specifics.
- Using offerings that sound too good to be true in an attempt to lure customers in.
- Threatening strict reprimands if their demands are not met.
How the Most Common Types of Social Engineering Attacks Work
Phishing – One of the most common methods of social engineering is phishing, which involves sending fraudulent emails or other communications in an attempt to trick the recipient into revealing sensitive information or clicking on a malicious link.
Spear Phishing – A spear-phishing attack is a type of phishing attack in which the attacker targets a specific individual or organization. The attacker will usually create a fake email or website that appears to be from a trusted source in order to trick the victim into entering their personal information or clicking on a malicious link. Spear phishing attacks can be very difficult to detect, as the attacker will often have done their research in order to make their fake email or website look as legitimate as possible. If you receive an email or visit a suspicious website, it is important to be cautious and not click on links or enter personal information.
Vishing – A vphishing attack is a phishing attack that uses voice calls instead of email or text messages to trick victims into giving up personal information. The attackers will often pose as a legitimate organization or person and try to get the victim to give them sensitive information like credit card numbers, account passwords, or Social Security numbers. They may also try to get victims to install malware on their computers or devices. Vphishing attacks can be very difficult to spot, since the caller may sound legitimate and the caller ID may even be spoofed to look like a legitimate organization. If you receive a suspicious call, do not give out any personal information and hang up immediately. You can also report the call to the authorities.
Smishing – Here, the attacker attempts to trick the victim into providing sensitive information or clicking on a malicious link by sending them a text message or SMS. Smishing attacks often use spoofed sender information to make the text message appear to come from a legitimate source, such as a bank, delivery company, or ecommerce merchant. If the victim responds to the smishing message, the attacker may then direct them to a malicious website that looks similar to the legitimate website of the organization that they claimed to be from. The victim may be asked to enter their login information or other sensitive information on this fake website, which the attacker can then use to gain access to their account.
Social Media Mining – In a social engineering attack that mines social media information, the attacker will use various social media platforms to collect data about their target. This data can be used to create a profile of the target, which can then be used to exploit their trust.
Physical Mining – This kind of attack uses physical means to gather information from a target location. One type of physical mining would be dumpster diving, or looking through trash for sensitive information. It may also involve stealing information from a person’s office or home.
Tailgating – This is when a social engineer gains access to a secure area by following someone else. Attackers use deception to gain access and often combine it with other types of attacks, such as phishing or spear phishing, to increase the chances of success.
Other Types of Phishing Attacks
- Pretexting: They make up stories to make you trust them and share secret info with them. Some tell-tale signs of pretexting attacks are the use of fake identities or scenarios, lies and deceit.
- Baiting: They offer you something awesome or exclusive, like a prize or access to cool stuff, as a trade for sensitive information.
- Quid pro quo: A social engineering attack in which the attacker offers something in exchange for information or a favor. This tactic makes it seems like there is a trade or mutual benefit.
- Diversion theft: They get you to send a package or money transfer somewhere else by mistake.
- Scareware: Tries to scare you into thinking your computer has a problem so that you’ll buy their bogus fix.
How To Prevent Social Engineering Attacks
1. Multi-Factor Authentication
One factor isn’t enough to keep your account safe, so don’t rely on just one. The password provides protection, but we’ve come to recognize that they’re insufficient on their own. So that someone else can guess your password and gain access to your accounts more easily. Access to the passwords can be gained by using social engineering techniques. Security questions, biometric access, and OTP codes are all examples of multi-factor authentication.
2. Implement Next-Gen Cloud-Based WAF
The next generation of web application cloud-based firewalls is specifically designed to offer optimal security against social engineering assaults, even if you already use one in your business. Unlike the classic WAF, the online WAF is a completely different beast. A web application or website can be continuously monitored by AppTrana for unusual activity or misbehavior. Social engineering assaults rely on human error, but the software will block them and notify you of any attempted malware installations. One of the greatest strategies to prevent social engineering attacks and any possible penetration is to use risk-based WAF.
3. Make Effective Use Of A Spam Filter
Your email program may need to be tweaked to remove more spam or flag questionable emails if it isn’t doing so already. The best spam filters use a variety of facts to identify spam emails. Scammers use a variety of techniques to identify potentially harmful files and links. They can use tools like a blacklist or a sender ID analyzer that can look for red flags in messages. You are probably thinking if this is something that could happen. The truth is, if you take the time to think about the issue and see if it’s believable, you’ll be able to tell many social engineering attacks from actual ones.
4. Inspect Your Computer For An SSL Certificate.
Hackers can’t access information included in encrypted data, emails, or communication, regardless of how it’s intercepted by a third party. This can be done by purchasing SSL certificates from reputable organizations. Additionally, you should always double-check the legitimacy of the website you’re about to divulge private information. Make a note of the URLs to make sure the site is real. Trusted and encrypted websites begin with the prefix HTTPS://. Websites that begin with HTTP:// do not provide a safe channel of communication.
5. Continuously Monitor Crucial Systems.
If you have important information on your system, ensure it is monitored around the clock! Trojans, for example, may rely on a system that is susceptible to exploit it. It is possible to detect vulnerabilities in your system by scanning both external and internal systems with Web application scanning. A social engineering engagement, at least once a year, can help you determine if your staff are vulnerable to social engineering attacks. Fake domains, if any exist, can be immediately removed to prevent online copyright infringement.
6. Investigate The Source Of The Information.
Consider the source of the communication before taking it at its value. What if you find a USB stick on your desk and have no idea what it is? Do you receive an unexpected phone call telling you you’ve inherited $5 million? Your CEO sent you an email asking for a slew of personal information about each of your workers? Each of these seems suspect, and it’s important to proceed cautiously. Identifying the source is not difficult. Take a look at the email’s header, for example, and compare it to other valid emails from the sender. Make sure to hover your cursor over the links to see if they’ve been faked (do not click the link, though!) Emails with glaring spelling issues are likely to be a hoax because banks have entire departments devoted to developing consumer communications. If you’re unsure if an email or message is legit, check out the company’s website and get in touch with an official representative.
7. Ensure That Your Security Patches Are Up-to-Date.
Cybercriminals hunt for flaws in your application, software, or systems to gain unauthorized access to your data. Always keep your security updates current and ensure your online browsers and operating systems are up to date. Security fixes are issued whenever a company discovers a security issue. Keep your systems up to date with the latest release to prevent cyber-attacks and maintain a cyber-resilient setting.
8. Focus on Employee Awareness and Education.
Regularly training employees on how to identify and respond to social engineering attacks can help reduce the risk of successful attacks. Employees should be made aware of the diverse types of social engineering attacks, such as phishing and pretexting, and the tactics used by attackers.
9. Develop Strong Incident Response Plans.
Having incident response plans in place enables organizations to quickly and effectively respond to social engineering attacks, minimize the damage and recover as quickly as possible.
10. Regularly Run Security Assessments and Penetration Tests.
Performing regular security assessments and penetration testing can help identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses that can be exploited by social engineering attackers.
Potential Damages of Social Engineering Attacks
The risks of social engineering attacks are significant, as they can lead to the loss of sensitive data, financial loss, and reputational damage. These attacks are hazardous because they often target individuals within an organization, rather than the organization itself, making detecting and preventing them more difficult. Social engineering attacks can cause a wide range of damage to individuals and organizations, including loss of sensitive data, financial loss, and reputational damage.
- Loss of sensitive data: Social engineering attacks can result in the loss of sensitive data, such as login credentials, financial information, and confidential business data. This can lead to financial loss and reputational damage.
- Financial Loss: Social engineering attacks can also result in financial loss, such as unauthorized transactions or access to bank accounts.
- Reputational damage: Social engineering attacks can also cause reputational damage to an organization. For example, if an attacker is able to impersonate an organization and trick individuals into providing sensitive information, this can damage the organization’s reputation and erode trust among customers, partners, and stakeholders.
- Disruption of operations: Social engineering attacks can also disrupt an organization’s operations by tricking individuals into taking actions that compromise the organization’s security.
- Legal and Compliance issues: Social engineering attacks can also lead to legal and compliance issues, such as violations of data protection regulations, in case of data breaches.
Related article: 5 Practical Ways to Improve Your Security Posture.
Protect Your Company with AWA
Social engineering attacks are a growing threat in the field of cybersecurity. Organizations must understand what social engineering attacks are, how they work, and the potential consequences in order to take steps to protect against them.
The dangers of social engineering attacks are on the rise, and they are now a big concern for companies of all kinds when it comes to cybersecurity. To avoid being a victim of social engineering, make sure your company has the right defenses in place. Your company’s security staff has to be notified as soon as a security event occurs so that they can take prompt action.
Learn more about AWA’s social engineering testing services.
