{"id":36721,"date":"2021-07-16T09:48:47","date_gmt":"2021-07-16T01:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/version-2.com\/?p=36721"},"modified":"2021-09-03T16:35:52","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T08:35:52","slug":"how-to-prevent-social-engineering-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/version-2.com\/en\/2021\/07\/how-to-prevent-social-engineering-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Prevent Social Engineering Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/p>\nWhen it comes to\u00a0cybersecurity<\/a>, many think about protecting themselves against hackers who use technological flaws in a system to steal data.\n\nBut cyberattacks can\u2019t just be malware intrusions, there are other ways to infiltrate organizations and networks with the victim\u2019s consent and without the victim\u2019s knowledge of what is going on.\n\nThis type of deception is known as social engineering, which in essence is manipulating someone until sensitive data and access permissions are granted.\n

A well-known example of this is when an intruder poses as the IT support of a particular company, asking users to provide information such as their usernames and passwords. The scam is accomplished when this information is shared.<\/p>\n

It is surprising how many people do not think twice about sharing this information, especially if it looks like it is being requested by a legitimate representative.<\/p>\n

In this context, we bring you some information relevant to the precaution against these attacks! Keep reading and learn how to protect yourself from social engineering attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n

What Would Social Engineering Be?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\nThe definition of social engineering embraces many types of psychological manipulations. This concept can generate positive results when it is taken to the area of behavioral promotion.<\/p>\n

Information Security<\/a>, however, tends to treat social engineering as an evil that provides benefits to the criminals, involving\u00a0manipulation to obtain private information<\/b>, such as personal and financial data. Thus, social engineering can also be defined as a cybercrime.<\/p>\n\n\n

How Does Social Engineering Work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Unfortunately, for humans, there are still some relationship patterns that are established. Social engineering works by taking advantage of these\u00a0cognitive prejudice<\/b>\u00a0situations where criminals steal financial and personal information.<\/p>\n

A strong example of this can be seen in the human tendency of trusting people who look nicer and more friendly, or even who hold a position of higher authority.<\/p>\n

Social engineering techniques\u00a0<\/b>exploit this natural human confidence. In 2018, vacation rental phishing scams, in which hackers impersonated owners offering real vacation listings, were common enough that the US Federal Trade Commission issued a warning about them.<\/p>\n

In many cases, the contact information and emails of the real owners were hacked, leaving little reason for victims to think they were not discussing a rental with the real owner.<\/p>\n\n\n

Who is Most Vulnerable to Social Engineering?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\nAnyone can fall victim to a\u00a0social engineering<\/a>\u00a0attack. Each one has their cognitive prejudices that, most of the time, go unnoticed during social life.<\/p>\n

However, there are some particular groups that, in a way, are \u201ceasy\u201d targets for these criminals, such as the elderly, who may not have knowledge of technology, generally have fewer human interactions, and may be perceived as having a lot of money and goods to discard.<\/p>\n\n

\nWhat Are Common Social Engineering Techniques?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\nSocial engineering techniques can take many forms<\/b>. Below we list the commonly used techniques.\n<\/p>\n\n

Trust Exploitation<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Users are less suspicious of people they are familiar with. An attacker can become familiar with system users before the social engineering attack.\u00a0The opportunist can participate in social events and other environments, which makes the attacker familiar to users.<\/p>\n\n

Intimidating Circumstances\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We tend to avoid people who intimidate others around us. Using this technique, an attacker could pretend to have a heated discussion on the phone or with an accomplice to the scam, and could then ask users for information that would be used to compromise the security of their system.<\/p>\n

Users are more likely to give the correct answers just to avoid a confrontation with the criminal. This technique can also be used to avoid being checked at a security checkpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n

Phishing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This technique uses tricks and cheats to obtain users\u2019 private data. The social engineer might try to impersonate a genuine website, such as Google, and then ask the unsuspecting user to confirm their account name and password.<\/p>\n

This technique can also be used to obtain credit card information or any other valuable personal data.<\/p>\n\n

Exploring Human Curiosity<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Using this technique, the social engineer can deliberately leave a virus-infected USB stick in an area where users can easily pick it up. The user will likely connect the USB stick to the computer.<\/p>\n

Thus, the USB stick might run the virus automatically or the user might be tempted to open a file with a name, such as Employee Review Report 2013.docx, which might actually be an infected file.\n\n<\/p>\n\n

Exploring Human Greed<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Using this technique, the social engineer can entice the user with the promise of earning big money online by filling out a form and confirming their details using credit card details, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n

How to Protect Yourself from a Social Engineering Attack?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Social engineering attacks are stealthy. This makes it critical for everyone to be aware of the threat. Some best practices you can follow to ensure you are protecting yourself from social engineering attacks include:<\/p>\n\n