Knowing what to do to prevent Social Engineering attacks is essential to ensuring internet security.
After all, cybersecurity is all about knowing who and what to trust when it comes to protecting your digital information.
Here is everything you need to know about what to do to avoid Social Engineering attacks.
What Social Engineering Is
Even the strongest security systems are vulnerable when people accessing those systems are tricked into providing sensitive information such as login credentials or account details.
Cybercriminals often use human psychology and the art of manipulation to scare, confuse, or rush you into opening a malicious link or attachment, or providing personal information through a process known as “social engineering.”
That is why it is so important not to ignore the 7 Signs Your Business Needs to Improve the Security of Sensitive Data.
How Do Social Engineering Attacks Work?
Social engineering tactics exploit our basic human need to respond to urgent requests (especially those from a person in authority), to make a problem go away, or simply to be useful to trick us into providing information that can be used to commit financial fraud.
Major events such as public health emergencies (eg Covid-19), natural disasters and high-profile elections, or even common occurrences like tax and holiday seasons, present ideal opportunities for fraudsters to take advantage of our anxiety and curiosity.
Criminals also often try to scare us and threaten the consequences if we do not respond.
How to Identify Social Engineering Attacks
There are basically three ways to identify such techniques before we know how to prevent Social Engineering attacks:
Fear as a Driver
Sending threatening or intimidating emails, calls, and texts that appear to come from an authority such as a police officer, the tax department or a bank are techniques that social engineers use to scare you into action, according to their demands for personal information or money.
Urgent Requests
Suspicious emails or texts, which include urgent requests for personal information, are a big warning sign that someone is trying to deceive you.
Irresistible Opportunities
If you are offered free access to an application, game, or program in exchange for login credentials, beware! You should never share your login credentials with anyone.
Also remember that free software or applications often contain malicious code, especially when it comes in the form of unsolicited online offers.
Other common scams include offering to split a lottery prize or information about a profitable employment opportunity.
About Version 2 Digital
Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.
Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.
About Segura®
Segura® strive to ensure the sovereignty of companies over actions and privileged information. To this end, we work against data theft through traceability of administrator actions on networks, servers, databases and a multitude of devices. In addition, we pursue compliance with auditing requirements and the most demanding standards, including PCI DSS, Sarbanes-Oxley, ISO 27001 and HIPAA.
