Social engineering is a type of manipulation in which people are tricked into disclosing sensitive information or taking actions that might put their security at risk. This can include methods such as phishing emails, pretexting, and baiting. It is important to be aware of these tactics in order to avoid becoming a victim of social engineering.
Let’s continue reading to discover more about social engineering and the specifics of how hackers can find your sensitive information.
What is Social Engineering?
Social engineering is a type of cyberattack that focuses on psychological manipulation rather than technical exploits. It involves tricking people into sharing sensitive information, granting access to restricted systems, or taking actions that compromise security.
Phishing emails, pretexting phone calls, and impersonation scenarios are examples of social engineering techniques. The widespread usage of social engineering is illustrated by real-world instances, such as hackers impersonating reliable organisations to obtain access to secure networks.
Most hackers use social engineering to steal your digital identity. Employee ID, customer ID, E-banking ID, and citizen ID are some of the digital identities that hackers may seek to obtain.
Hackers who gain access to these identities can commit fraud, steal money, or access sensitive information. It is critical to be cautious and vigilant in order to keep your digital identity from falling into the wrong hands.
Learn more about it in our previous blog post, “Digital Identity: What It Is and Why It Matters“.
How and Why Social Engineering Works
Social engineering is also known as “human hacking” because it employs psychological manipulation and takes advantage of human error or weakness rather than technical or digital system vulnerabilities. They manipulate victims’ emotions and instincts in ways proven to drive people to take actions that are not in their best interests.
So, how does social engineering work?
There are numerous tactics and methods that cyberattackers use to make social engineering work and ultimately steal your data. Some of the most common include impersonating the government, instilling fear, and using greed as your motivation.
IBM’s blog outlines in detail some of the most typical social engineering tactics, which are:
1. Presenting as a trustworthy brand
Scammers frequently pose as or “spoof” businesses that victims are familiar with, trust, and may interact with frequently.
In fact, victims may follow these brands’ instructions without thinking twice because they do so automatically and without taking the necessary safety measures. Some social engineering con artists stage phoney websites that mimic well-known brands or businesses using easily accessible kits.
2. Pretending to be a government agency or authority figure
People trust, respect, and even fear authority figures. That is why sometimes people instinctively do something for the authority figure without second-guessing. Social engineering attacks exploit these instincts by sending messages that appear to be from government agencies (such as the FBI or IRS), political figures, or even celebrities.
3. Instilling fear or a feeling of urgency
When people are scared or in a hurry, they tend to act recklessly. Social engineering scams can use a variety of techniques to create fear or urgency in victims.
For example, informing the victim that a recent credit transaction was not approved, that a virus has infected their computer, that an image on their website violates copyright, and so on.
Social engineering can also capitalize on victims’ fear of missing out (FOMO), creating a different level of urgency.
4. Using greed as motivation
One of the most popular examples of social engineering that plays on greed is the Nigerian Prince scam. These tactics involve an email offering a huge financial reward to the recipient in exchange for their bank account details or a small advance fee.
The sender poses as a Nigerian royal who is attempting to escape the country. An effective combination of creating a sense of urgency and originating from an alleged authority figure is another way that this kind of social engineering attack can be carried out.
Even though email is as old as the internet itself, as of 2018, this scam was still making $700,000 USD annually.
5. Appealing to usefulness or curiosity.
Phrases involving social engineering can also play on the compassion of their victims.
An email claiming to be from a friend or social media platform, for example, may offer technical support, request involvement in a survey, state that the recipient’s post has gained widespread attention, or include a spoof link leading to a malicious website.
What Are the Main Types of Social Engineering
Phishing attacks are one of the most popular types of social engineering. Other than that, there are other types of attacks like baiting, pretexting, tailgating, and many more. Most of these types of social engineering attacks rely on manipulating human behaviour rather than exploiting technical vulnerabilities.
Here are the details of all the main types of social engineering.
Phising
Voice or digital messages that attempt to trick listeners into downloading malicious software, disclosing private information, sending money or assets to the wrong person, or engaging in other harmful behaviour.
Phishing scammers create phishing messages that appear and sound authentic, sometimes even posing as correspondence from a person the recipient knows directly.
Baiting
This method uses a valuable offer or even a valuable object to lure victims into unintentionally or knowingly providing sensitive information or downloading malicious code.
More recent examples include music, games, and software downloads that are free but contain malware.
Tailgating
This type of social engineering, also known as “piggybacking,” occurs when an unauthorised person follows an authorised person into a location containing private information or valuable items.
Tailgating occurs primarily in person. In the digital scenario, tailgating occurs when a person leaves a computer unattended while still logged in to a private account or network.
Pretexting
In this type, the threat actor sets up a situation for the victim and poses as an appropriate individual to resolve it.
Frequently, the scammer claims that the victim has been affected by a security breach and then offers to fix things if the victim provides important account information or control over the victim’s computer or device.
Technically, almost every social engineering attack involves some form of pretexting.
Quid pro quo
A quid pro quo scam involves hackers offering a desirable good or service in exchange for the victim’s personal information.
False contest winnings or seemingly innocent loyalty rewards are examples of quid pro quo schemes.
Scareware
Scareware, which is also classified as malware, is software that uses fear to trick people into sharing sensitive information or downloading malicious software.
Scareware frequently takes the form of a fake law enforcement notice accusing the user of a crime, or a fraudulent tech support message warning the user about malware on their device.
Watering hole attack
This term originates from the phrase “somebody poisoned the watering hole”.
In this type of social engineering, hackers insert malicious code into a legitimate web page visited by their targets. Watering hole attacks are responsible for everything, from compromised credentials to unintentional drive-by ransomware downloads.
Risk management can help you protect sensitive company information from all these types of social engineering attacks. This systematic process of identifying, analysing, evaluating, and responding to cyberattacks is one of the best ways to protect yourself from social engineering.
Read more in our post, “Risk Management in Cybersecurity: What It Is and Best Practices“.
Conclusion
While social engineering primarily relies on human psychology, it is important to remember that technological solutions can help protect against these attacks. To further protect against social engineering attacks, it is recommended that you hire an expert cybersecurity team to implement and monitor these solutions.
Looking for experts to help protect your company from social engineering?
Nexa Lab security hardening services provide a wide range of cyber security services, including vulnerability assessments, application security enhancements, incident response planning, custom security strategies, access control and authentication, and security awareness training.
Nexa Lab was founded and established in Australia, with over 30 years of experience in the MSP and IT industries. With a commitment to cybersecurity, we prioritise protecting Australian businesses’ digital assets and sensitive data.
