In the world of cybersecurity, social engineering attacks have become one of the most prevalent and dangerous types of attacks. Social engineering is the use of psychological tactics to trick people into revealing sensitive information or performing actions that can compromise their security. In this blog post, we’ll discuss what social engineering attacks are, how they work, and most importantly, how to recognize and avoid them.
What are social engineering attacks?
Social engineering attacks come in many forms, but they all rely on the attacker’s ability to manipulate their victims into performing an action that benefits the attacker. These actions can include disclosing sensitive information such as passwords or account numbers, or performing actions such as downloading malware or clicking on a malicious link.
Most common types of social engineering attacks include phishing, pretexting, baiting, and quid pro quo.
Phishing is the most common type of social engineering attack, and it involves sending a fraudulent email that appears to come from a legitimate source. The email will typically contain a link to a fake website or a request for sensitive information, like your company credentials to access it.
Pretexting is when the attacker impersonates someone else, such as a company employee or a trusted individual, to gain access to sensitive information.