What is Social Engineering?

22 Sep What is Social Engineering?

What is Social Engineering?

When the term ‘Social Engineering’ is used in the context of cybersecurity, or cybercrime it is a generic term for any attempt to have an end user assist the perpetrator by having them do something. Outside of the cyber realm this would be better known as conning (confidence trick) or scamming somebody.

Social Engineering attacks are identified by the Interpol as one of the world’s emerging fraud trends with reported loss has been doubled to 1 billion dollars in 2015.

What are the common Social Engineering attacks?

• Phishing

• Spear Phishing

• Phone (or Voice) Phishing

• Email from a friend

• Malvertising

Cybercriminal using Social Engineering are a definite threat to today’s businesses, from the local pizza shop to the Fortune 500. However, a little bit of education and the right solutions go a long way. Make sure your employees understand what to watch our for and you can avoid a lot of headaches.
There are ways to protect your business against Social Engineering attacks. Download our ebook “A Quick Guide to today’s cyber threats” and you will learn about the current trends in security threats, be able to identify vulnerabilities, and protect your data against these threats.