Cybercriminals have been launching viruses, malware and other schemes to infect and infiltrate systems, both at the enterprise and consumer levels, since the start of the internet age. One of the most successful forms of cybercrime is social engineering schemes such as phishing, where the criminal attempts to steal information from a user.

The foundation of any social engineering attack is trust. The criminal is seeking to gain your trust through nefarious methods in order to receive something, which could include access permissions, passwords, or physical access to a building or a piece of hardware.

For example, a hacker could send out a set of messages that try to mimic the look and feel of a bank or other company. The goal is to have Internet users click on rogue links and enter passwords or other sensitive information on a spoofed webpage.

Cybercriminals know that even the best scams will run out of steam eventually, which is exactly why they are constantly experimenting with new forms of social engineering, such as the extortion scam. In this form of social engineering, the victim receives a message claiming that the sender has incriminating evidence about something they did in the past. These attacks often are targeted and will use real names and job histories to extort money from the victim in exchange for silence on the part of the perpetrator.

Social engineering attacks are especially dangerous for firms because all it takes is one weak link in an organization to initiate a damaging event. For example, if a server administrator falls victim to a phishing scam, that could leave a powerful password in the hands of a hacker, who then could execute a range of attacks across the network.

Cybersecurity awareness training should be a fundamental part of your company’s onboarding process. In addition, periodic mandatory sessions should be held every quarter with an emphasis on social engineering to ensure that your employees know what to watch for and how to protect themselves.

Companies need to remain vigilant and stay up to date with best practices when it comes to cybersecurity, and ensure their employees do too, because social engineering is only going to get more sophisticated in the future. It is only a matter of time before criminals start using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to their benefit.

Ultimately, stopping cyberattacks and placing roadblocks to social engineering begins with diligent behavior on the part of every user and learning how to keep your online data safe against such threats. Besides using strong passwords, users should also try using unique passphrases, multi-factor authentication, and safe online practices.


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