What Are Social Engineering Attacks?
Social engineering attacks are malicious acts in which bad actors coax and trick individuals into revealing sensitive information and confidential data. In this type of attack, attackers exploit human psychology instead of technical errors in devices and networks to steal information or critical data from a reputed organization, government institute, or individual. They use different types of communication channels such as phone calls, messages, emails, and chats to approach the victims. Once in communication with their target, they create emergencies to put psychological pressure on the victims and trick them into disclosing confidential data and key account details.
In social engineering attacks, attackers often ask their target for confidential data such as passwords, account numbers, SSNs, or credit card details. Before approaching the victim these criminals do in-depth research to collect necessary information about the target. They use this information to convince and win the victim`s trust. After that, they approach the person making up an emergency to persuade the target and make them believe that they are in grave danger. Social engineers warn that if you want to avoid this impending harm you have to provide us with the essential account details and passcodes. They threaten that if you don’t listen to us, you will suffer a huge loss. Users often feel pressured and panicked in this situation and readily agree to respond to crises. They do whatever they are asked to do.
Taking advantage of this situation, social engineers instruct victims and guide them to proceed with the current situation. They give victims download links, files, or web links tampered with by the malware. As soon as a person clicks them, malware enters their device`s system, and all is lost. This is how social engineering attacks work.
What are Different Types of Social Engineering Attacks?
There are different types of social engineering attacks cyberpunks use to make you disclose sensitive data about you, your work, your company, financial activities, etc. Each attack involves different strategies and tactics to exploit human errors and emotional weaknesses to get victims to disclose their personal information. Here are some examples of social engineering attacks.
Phishing
Phishing is one of the most common types of social engineering attacks black hats use to trick people into revealing personal information. In this method, you will receive text messages, notifications, and emails, as a trusted form of information. Emails will ask you to submit your bank details and reply back to the bank in order to confirm their security. Spear phishing is the best example of this type of attack. Spear phishing targets a single person within the company by sending an email from a fake higher-level company official. It asks for bank details and confidential information for various types of security purposes. The victim mistook this to be true and disclosed all the information to the allegedly higher-level management official. But by the time the victim comes to realize his mistake it is too late.
Baiting
Baiting is a process in which black hats lay the trap for the user. In this method, black hats load malware into a USB stick, or any type of removable driver and leave it near the Victim’s PC. When the user finds it he becomes curious about the USB and the information in it. As soon as he plugs the stick into his system malware enters it and steals all the personal and confidential data. Malicious actors also use USB sticks to damage a device. A stick can charge itself from the drive. When it is full with charging it will release the energy back into the system with full force leaving the system damaged.
Pretexting
These types of attacks use a pretext to gain users’ attention and hook them to do a certain task. It may involve an Internet survey or sending out an email that looks harmless in the beginning. But as soon as a user responds to them or starts the process it asks for personal and sensitive information that includes passwords, account details, and user ID. Similarly, the attacker might physically and professionally present themselves carrying a clipboard to show that he is doing an audit or survey. It creates a sense of reality due to which commoners end up giving all the information to the malicious actors.
Vishing and Smishing
Vishing and smishing social engineering attacks involve using voice communication, and SMS communication. In a vishing attack, a person will impersonate himself as a close acquaintance, co-worker, or customer support provider to approach a normal user and ask for sensitive information. People do not investigate anything about who they are talking to. Taking things for granted they just share all the information with the imposters. In the same way, smishing is used to communicate with a user and ask him to provide confidential data back to the message sender.
Hunting and Farming
These are two tactics that social engineers use to acquire the required information from the victims. Hunting methodology involves a direct attack in which a person directly approaches a user and asks for sensitive information by creating an emergency for him. Swindlers send lots of phishing emails, fake calls, and messages to a particular user to make him respond quickly. Users often become aghast with the huge amount of information and start interacting with them. It results in revealing personal details to the cybercriminals.
On the other hand, farming involves a more strategic and patient approach in which malicious actors build a relationship with the user and collect small pieces of information over time. To do so black hats infiltrate social circles, exploit social dynamics, and make fake profiles, to target users and get them to disclose personal information. It is a long process in which every step is aligned to extort confidential information from the victim.
Give and Take
This type of attack is reciprocal in terms of information sharing. Here the perpetrator offers some help and asks for some information in return from the user. Black hats exploit this trust to get important information from the commoners. They use deceptive and harmful ways to lure individuals to trick them into disclosing all the critical details about important accounts, emails, and financial data. In some cases, black hats download scareware into your system on the pretext of providing security solutions against malware infections. Victims think they are getting a security solution that will protect their system but in reality, they are tricked into downloading malware and spyware on their devices that steal data from it.
How To Prevent Social Engineering Attacks?
Preventing social engineering attacks can be challenging for the common people who are not well aware of the tactics and methods that are used by cyberpunks. It requires quick response and the right skills to restrict and prevent a social engineer from accessing your confidential data and personal details. If you are lacking these skills and know-how then you do not need to worry about anything. This write-up provides you with the tips and know-how to deal with social engineering attacks effectively.
Following are the tips and skills that will help you prevent social engineering attacks without any failure:
Verify The Authenticity Of The Sources
It is highly essential that you cross-check the source of the information you are receiving on your internet devices. If someone claims to be a support service provider then do not take their words for truth. Instead, go to the official support services of the relevant website and make a call using the authentic number provided on the site. Do not take things for granted or at face value when you receive an email or SMS from an unknown source. Always go and google about it and collect as much information as possible that is necessary to establish the truth. Double-check the sender, go to your inbox, and match the details to make sure it is the real and same destination from whom you received the email last time. This small research will prevent bigger loss impending for you.
Crosscheck The Caller
If you are getting calls from strangers it is advised to handle them wisely. These callers can be imposters who are looking for your personal data and critical information. If they claim to be employees or officials from an authorized institution or platform, never trust them openly. Never provide them any information if they ask for passwords, credentials, and user IDs of critical accounts, etc. These people can be fraudsters or scammers who use this information to access your account to do illegal activities. In this situation, you should take proactive steps to verify whether the call is genuine or not. Once you get the confirmation that it is not any perpetrator you may cooperate with them.
Do Not Use Found Devices
If you find any USB, hard drive, or any other removable driver around your PC, never plug them into your devices out of curiosity. These devices can be baits left by the bad actors to trick you into using them in your devices. Such devices are often tampered with by malicious programs that enter your system as soon as you plug them into your computer. If you plug them into your system malicious programs such as malware, spyware, ransomware, and other viruses enter your device to steal your data. In the worst-case scenario, it can hinder the whole system process. Hence avoid using found and unknown devices such as USB or hard drives inside your system.
Make Personalized Verification
It is highly essential to make personalized verification about the calls, emails, and other forms of communication that you are getting from unknown sources. Remember when a bank official calls you or any other support service provider calls you they always have basic information in front of them about you. This information can include your address, your full name, account number, and other personal details. If anyone calls you from the other side you can ask them a few questions about these things to confirm whether they are really from the organization or institute they are calling from or whether they are fraudsters connecting with you from outside. If they answer your question correctly without any reluctance with full accuracy then they may be from a valid agency. This way you can make personal verification about the person who is in communication with you.
Check the ID
It is highly essential to always check the ID of the people who are entering your office with bundles of files and documents. These officials can be imposters and con men trying to bypass the security protocols. They will enter your space quickly and start asking different types of questions related to your personal details. If you ever face such situations don’t panic. Instead, maintain your calm and question them about who they are, what their purpose is for the visit, and what authority they have to ask you questions. You can ask them for their ID and tell them to wait until you verify it with the relevant authorities. The same goes for Telecallers and message senders. It will save you from big troubles down the line.
Never Respond Quickly
Social engineering attacks create emergency situations to provoke a quick and hasty response. They will bombard you with a line of questions one after the other without leaving you any chance to speak or ask any question about the information. But you have to be patient during this communication. Listen to the person from the other but do not respond quickly. Instead, you should break this flow and put questions in between. Do not disclose any personal information to them. It will break their spirit and leave them with no choice but to leave you. Hence, always try to break the loop as far as possible to stop the fraudsters from taking information from you.
Use a Spam Filter
Traditional filters often fail to find and filter out spam emails. In this situation, you must use a robust spam filter to protect your device from phishing emails. A robust filter can detect suspicious files, links, and attachments that are related to the malware. This filter will identify the malicious content and block it from receiving in your email inbox. It will blacklist suspicious IP addresses and sender IDs that are coming from illegal sources. In addition to this, a spam filter also analyzes the content of the mail, messages, and notifications to detect errors and verify their statements. If it contains inconsistencies in language and format then it immediately filters out the content. These errors are strong signs of malware and virus presence.
Install Antivirus Software
Setting up advanced antivirus software on your internet devices is another way to protect them from malware, phishing, spyware, and adware that steal important data from your PC. It will detect, block, and prevent virus attacks, spyware, and other types of unwanted intruders from entering your system. It will protect your online privacy, search history, and other types of digital activities from cyber attacks. You will get a safe password vault that will protect your important user IDs and passwords from theft. Most importantly if you ever face any online social engineering attack it acts immediately and generates alerts about data breaches to you. Hence, installing and running antivirus software on your system would be highly efficient for dealing with online data theft.
Reduce your digital footprint
Digital footprints are data or traces that you create while browsing the internet. Whatever activity you do online such as visiting websites, downloading files, clicking links, reading blogs, making any comment, or doing different activities on social media activities all are included in the digital footprint. Some footprints are created actively while others are created passively. You cannot control the passive ones but you can certainly manage active digital footprints. It includes sharing information on social media sites, online platforms, and online form filling. These activities expose a full range of information about you to different people. Social engineers can exploit this data against you. But you can avoid these types of attacks simply by reducing your active digital footprints.
How To Reduce The Impacts Of Social Engineering Attacks?
If ever you suffer any data breach or online information theft due to a social engineering attack you can reduce its aftereffects by implementing safety measures in the post-attack scenario. Following are the steps you should take to reduce the impacts of social engineering attacks:
Update Antivirus Software
Antivirus updates are one of the main fortes that will protect your system from robust malware attacks. This process will upgrade the security algorithms of the software and develop new technology that will effectively sort out the virus infection on your system. With the help of this program, you will effectively be able to knock out malicious threats from your system.
Update System Programs
Outdated programs and apps running in your system develop security patches over time. Cybercriminals develop advanced malware programs that override the old security systems in the apps and programs. To deal with this issue app vendors release new updates from time to time. These updates cover all the security patches and vulnerabilities and fortify the defenses of the system programs.
Avoid Running Devices In Administrator Mode
It refers to using an account with administrative privileges that grants the users unrestricted access to system settings. It provides users substantial control over the device enabling them to make system changes, conduct admin tasks, and install software changes. However, it poses security risks for the operating system. Because, if malware or virus accesses a device running in this mode then it can exploit elevated settings, and carry out harmful activities. It can download malware in the system, modify its settings, and steal sensitive data. Hence it is recommended to avoid running devices in the administrator mode.
Change Passwords Regularly
Using the same password for a long time can be highly dangerous from a security perspective. It exposes the accounts to vulnerabilities and security breaches over time. Active black hats often crack the codes for the old accounts and get illegal access to them. So, changing the passwords of your important accounts from time to time will be the best way to prevent illegal access to your critical accounts. Also, it is advised to use different passwords for different accounts and apps. Using the same passkey for various portals increases the risk of compromise of data. In case of social engineering attacks, this method will protect your account and information at a more optimal level.
Use multifactor-authentication services
Multifactor authentication services add different layers of protection to your accounts. Even if some malicious entity successfully finds the first key to access your account there will be other passcodes such as a one-time password, email notification, and code verification. Along with this if someone tries to access your account without your permission you will get security alerts for verification. It will ask you whether it is you who is accessing the account or not. If you say no then it will stop the further passage for the malicious actor to further proceed with it. Therefore, always use multifactor authentication security services to protect your data and important accounts.
Stay Up To Date With The Cyber Threats
New malware keeps coming into the market every other day. New cyber attacks are launched using different channels and methods. Black hats trick people into disclosing personal details and critical data related to financial transactions. It is important to stay up to date about the latest tactics and methods cybercriminals use to launch cyber attacks. If anyone approaches you and asks for your details and follows the patterns to steal your data then you will be able to identify such malicious actors and act in time to report the case to the cybercrime control authorities. Therefore, always stay up to date with the cybersecurity trends to protect yourself from online attacks.
