The importance of maintaining a safe and secure workplace cannot be overstated. Companies invest a lot of money and resources into protecting their IT infrastructure. However, cybercriminals devise strategies to penetrate their defences and exploit vulnerabilities in their security setup. When they fail to do so, they turn to social engineering.
Social engineering is a powerful cyber attack tactic because it catches people unaware and gets them to divulge information about their work that should be left confidential. Most of the time, cybercriminals hunt for employees’ login credentials so they can access their work accounts. With these credentials, they can cause a data breach on a company’s cloud computing platform.
In most cases, the cybercriminal first studies their victim to ensure they have the information they need. They also study them to find their vulnerabilities and possible attack points they can use to gain access to that person. Their next step will be to build trust with their victim, which will make it easier for them to get the sensitive information they desire. If they manage to get the login information and log into that employee’s account, they have successfully performed a cyber attack known as credential access.
Different Forms of Social Engineering
There are different forms of social engineering, but here are three of the most common ones:
-
Phishing
Phishing attacks are cyberattacks where a bad actor sends an email or text containing a malicious link or attachment to an unsuspecting employee. They will mask their identity to make it seem like they are a familiar person. If the recipient is not vigilant, they will be deceived and click the link or download the attachment, giving the bad actor access to their computer or smartphone.
-
Scareware
Cybercriminals use scareware to trick people into thinking something is wrong with their computers so they can install malicious software. For instance, when an employee is surfing the internet, they may get a pop-up notification stating that their computer has been infected with a virus.
The pop-up will show a link to download software that can eliminate the virus, which is a lie. If the employee downloads and instals the software out of fear, malware will be installed on their computer. Cybercriminals can use that malware to obtain the employee’s login credentials and be able to perform credential access.
-
Baiting
This form of social engineering capitalises on people’s curiosity or greed. A hacker might leave attractive hardware, usually a corrupt flash drive, in a place where it is easily detectable. This can be on a park bench, restaurant table, and waiting room chair. If an employee picks up the flash drive and plugs it into their computer, it will be flooded with malware that the hacker can use to obtain their login credentials.
Endnote
Social engineering is a powerful tactic in the hands of cybercriminals and every organisation should teach their employees how to detect the different forms of it. Doing so will protect their IT infrastructure from credential access and prevent data breaches.
Image by GuerrillaBuzz on Unsplash
