In social engineering attacks, the attacker influences the victim to obtain valuable information. Corporate employees are targeted to reveal business information, while non-specialists are targeted to disclose credit or debit card information.
The attacker may also threaten the victim that their system will be hacked if they do not give the asked information. In social engineering techniques, the reparatory will take any form of disguise. But most of the time, they say they are from a bank or a tech support employee from a well-known company. However, although the objective is the same, this isn’t always the case. By gaining your trust, they sniff the information you conceal from everybody.
Knowing the victim’s weaknesses, the wrongdoer successfully manipulates their trust, and social engineering ends. Often, without paying much attention to the one who contacts him, the victim provides his private information. As a result, the victims get blackmailed into providing sensitive data and threatening to be charged with unlawful situations if they do not share the information.
Over the years, Social engineering attacks have become common against businesses. In reality, it has grown increasingly sophisticated as technology has evolved. And, there are no chances of a ‘stop sign’ for these cybercrimes near future. Instead, to deceive employees and get sensitive information, hackers are coming up with more creative methods. Thus it’s high time for businesses to do proper research and develop the right tools to stay ahead of these fraudsters.
Also Read: Key Questions CISOs Should Ask to Safeguard Their Organization’s Sensitive Data
Social engineering attackers have the following one of two goals:
- They want to corrupt data to cause inconvenience to an organization.
- They want to steal money and information or obtain unsolicited access.
There are many types of social engineering techniques, such as:
- Phishing
- Spear Phishing
- Baiting
- Tailgating
- Scareware
- Vishing
- Smishing
- Whaling
- Pretexting
- Email spamming
As they are constantly evolving in their ingenuity, social engineering techniques are hard to counter. However, organizations and employees can prevent social engineering techniques in several practical ways. Businesses and employees have to be careful of what they share. Companies don’t need to be paranoid about these social engineering attacks. It is possible to prevent them. Here are some of the successful ways to avoid social engineering techniques.
Be cautious of your password
A pro tip for businesses is never to use the same password for all the platforms you log onto. After you are done with surfing and browsing, keep no traces behind and delete all sessions. Stay cautious of people you tag, and Utilize social media wisely. Beware of the information you provide on social media, as an attacker might loom there.
If you have the same password for different websites, your data can be breached up to the skin in case your social media account gets hacked. To prevent your details from being leaked over the internet, you will get blackmailed to pay the ransom.
Perpetrators of attacks can get your passwords pretty quickly. Imagine what happens if you get infected with ransomware. Attackers will encrypt all your files, and they will ask you to pay the ransom, and there will not be any data back guarantee. This is why the best countermeasure against social engineering attacks is to apply preventive tools.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Don’t rely on one factor. That is the essential preventive measure that guarantees your account security. Indeed, passwords can ensure safety, but they are inadequate on their own. This is because guessing a password and accessing an account requires little effort.
Passwords can be accessed easily using social engineering techniques, so it is wise to have multi-factor verification required. This can be anything from security questions, and biometric access, to an OTP code.
Keep Spam Filter Enabled
Spam filters are there with almost every email provider. Suspicious emails can be thrown away to the spam folder automatically. Credible email services detect harmful links or files and warn users to download them at their own risk. Some files which have suspicious extensions are often barred from downloading.
When the spam feature is enabled, it will ease you from categorizing emails. Moreover, people will be relieved from detecting mistrustful messages, which are horrendous tasks. When spam filters are enabled, social engineering attackers will find it difficult to reach you, and your sensitive data will be safe.
Update Software Regularly
This is a critical and best way to prevent social engineering techniques. The company’s system software patch should constantly be updated. And maintaining the drivers and keeping a close look on your network firewall is necessary too. People must be alert when an unknown person connects to the network via Wi-Fi. You will have to update your antivirus immediately. Be mindful of dangers and download any content from legitimate sources only.
Hacking becomes very easy if the victims are using software that is out of date. Offenders exploit the system when vulnerabilities are exposed and gain access to it. A ton of dangers can be avoided if businesses update the software regularly. Consequently, no backdoors are left for hackers to intrude.
Perform Regular Cybersecurity Posture Assessments
Cybercriminals also need success with their efforts so that they always look to improve themselves. They constantly modify and update their social engineering techniques to succeed in their attacks. When technologies using Artificial Intelligence, such as deep fakes, enter the landscape to manipulate a face or voice, the methods used in social engineering also change.
Also Read: Strategies to Strengthen the Operational Technology (OT) Cybersecurity Posture
The security teams of the company keep up with the latest techniques and tactics that are used by cybercriminals, and this goes a long way in ensuring the use of most appropriate defense against all scams.
However, a cybersecurity posture assessment enables companies to identify the following:
- Where they’re currently at
- What is currently missing
- What should be done to increase their cybersecurity maturity level.
Cybersecurity posture assessment has the objective of helping organizations strengthen their Cybersecurity by developing a practical and comprehensive cybersecurity roadmap.
All the ways to prevent social engineering techniques mentioned above summarize that your doubt is the first step towards digital secrecy. You are entirely protected from online manipulation as you doubt your online presence. Not even you; your credit card information and other necessary information will also be shielded since you never mentioned it to anyone in the first place.
All of this is achieved when companies doubt what is occurring online. You have to inspect the links you visit and discard suspicious emails, and thus you are secure. With these actions taken, it will prevent social engineering from occurring. Following these practical ways to prevent social engineering techniques, companies can safeguard themselves from hacking and losing data.
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