What is Social Engineering?
Social engineering is a manipulation technique that exploits human error to obtain private information, access or valuable assets.
Meaning
Social Engineering-attacks manipulate people to share information they should not share, download software they should not download, visit Web sites they should not visit, send money to criminals or make other mistakes that compromise their personal or organizational security. Because social engineering uses psychological manipulation and exploits human errors or weaknesses rather than technical vulnerabilities, it is also known as "human hacking.
Content
How Social Engineering Works and Why
Social Engineering tactics and techniques are based on the science of human motivation. They manipulate victims' emotions and instincts in ways that have been proven to induce people to take actions that are not in their best interests.
Most attacks of social manipulation use one or more of the following tactics:
Impersonating a trusted brand: Scammers often pose as companies that victims know, trust and perhaps do business with regularly-so often that they reflexively follow instructions from these brands without taking proper precautions. Some social manipulation scammers use widespread kits to set up fake websites that resemble those of major brands or companies.
Impersonating a government agency or authority figure: People trust, respect, or fear authority (to varying degrees). Social Engineering attacks capitalize on these instincts with messages that appear to come from government agencies (e.g., the UWV or the SVB), political figures, or even celebrities.
Generate fear or a sense of urgency: People often act in haste when they are afraid or need to move quickly. Social engineering scams can use various techniques to create fear or urgency in victims-by telling them, for example, that a recent credit card transaction was not approved, that a virus has infected their computer, that an image on their website violates copyright, and so on. Social engineering can also capitalize on victims' fear of missing out on something (FOMO), which creates another kind of urgency.
Playing on greed: The Nigerian Prince scam-an e-mail in which someone claiming to be a Nigerian royal trying to flee his country offers a huge financial reward in exchange for the recipient's bank account information or a small advance payment-is one of the best-known examples of Social Engineering that appeals to greed. (It also comes from a supposed authority figure and creates a sense of urgency-a powerful combination.)
Responding to helpfulness and curiosity: The manipulative tactics that fall under Social Engineering can also play on the good nature of victims. For example, a message that appears to come from a friend or social network may offer technical help, ask for participation in a survey, claim that the message is from the receiving
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Social Engineering attack techniques
Social Engineering attacks come in different forms and can occur anywhere human interaction is involved. Here are the five most common forms of digital Social Engineering attacks.
Phishing
Phishing attacks are digital or vocal messages that attempt to manipulate recipients into sharing sensitive information, downloading malicious software, transferring money or assets to the wrong people, or taking other harmful actions. Scammers craft phishing messages to look or sound like they come from a trusted or credible organization or person, sometimes even a person the recipient knows personally.
There are many types of phishing scams:
- Bulk phishing emails are sent to millions of recipients at once. They appear to be sent by a large, well-known company or organization - a national or global bank, a major online retailer, a popular online payment provider, and so on - and make a generic request such as 'we are having trouble processing your purchase, please update your credit card information.' Often these messages contain a malicious link that directs the recipient to a fake website that captures the recipient's username, password, credit card information and more.
- Spear phishing targets a specific individual, usually someone with privileged access to user information, the computer network or corporate funds. A scammer will research the target, often using information found on LinkedIn, Facebook or other social media, to create a message that appears to come from someone the target knows and trusts, or that references situations the target is familiar with. Whale phishing is a spear phishing attack that targets a prominent individual, such as a CEO or political figure. In business e-mail fraud (BEC), the hacker uses compromised credentials to send e-mail messages from the actual e-mail account of an authority figure, making the scam much harder to detect.
- Voice phishing, or vishing, is phishing via telephone calls. Individuals usually experience vishing in the form of threatening recorded calls claiming to be from the FBI.
- SMS phishing, or smishing, is phishing via text message.
- Search engine phishing involves hackers creating malicious Web sites that rank high in search results for popular search terms.
- Angler-phishing is phishing through fake social media accounts posing as the official account of customer service or customer support teams of trusted companies.
According to a research by I&O research Phishing was the most common form of Cybercrime in 2022, in fact, this survey found that 32% of respondents experienced Phishing in 2022.
Baiting
Baiting lures (no pun intended) victims knowingly or unknowingly into giving up sensitive information or downloading malicious code by enticing them with a valuable offer or even a valuable object.
The Nigerian Prince scam is probably the best-known example of this technique. More recent examples include free but malware-infected game, music or software downloads. But some forms of baiting are hardly artful. For example, some attackers simply leave malware-infected USB sticks where people will find them - and they grab and use them because "hey, free USB stick.
Tailgating
In tailgating - also known as "piggybacking" - an unauthorized person closely follows an authorized person into an area containing sensitive information or valuable assets. Tailgating can be done in person - for example, when an attacker follows an employee through an unlocked door. But tailgating can also be a digital tactic, such as when someone leaves a computer unattended while still logged into a private account or network.
Pretexting
In pretexting, the attacker creates an imaginary situation for the victim and pretends to be the right person to resolve it. Very often (and most ironically), the scammer claims that the victim has been affected by a security breach and then offers to fix things if the victim provides important account information or control of the victim's computer or device. (Technically, almost every form of social engineering involves some degree of pretexting.)
Quid pro quo
In a quid pro quo scam, hackers offer a desirable good or service in exchange for sensitive information from the victim. Fake contest winnings or seemingly innocuous loyalty rewards ("thank you for your payment - we have a gift for you") are examples of quid pro quo scams.
Scareware
Also considered a form of malware, scareware is software that uses fear to manipulate people into sharing confidential information or downloading malware. Scareware often takes the form of a fake law enforcement message accusing the user of a crime, or a fake tech support message warning the user of malware on their device.
Watering hole attack
In a so-called watering hole attack, hackers inject malicious code into a legitimate Web page that is frequently visited by their targets. Watering hole attacks are responsible for everything from stolen credentials to unwitting ransomware downloads via "drive-by" (unintentional) actions.
Social Engineering Prevention
Social engineering attacks are notoriously difficult to prevent because they rely on human psychology rather than technological pathways. The attack surface is also significant: in a larger organization, one mistake by an employee is enough to compromise the integrity of the entire corporate network. Some of the steps experts recommend to reduce the risk and success of Social Engineering attacks include:
Security Awareness Training: Many users do not know how to recognize Social Engineering attacks. At a time when users often trade personal information for goods and services, they don't realize that revealing seemingly mundane information, such as a phone number or date of birth, can allow hackers to breach accounts. Security awareness training, combined with data security policies, can help employees understand how to protect their sensitive data and how to recognize and respond to ongoing Social Engineering attacks.
Access management policies: Security policies and access management technologies, including Multi-Factor Authentication, customizable authentication and Zero-Trust security policies, can limit cybercriminals' access to sensitive information and assets on the corporate network, even if they obtain users' login credentials.
Cybersecurity technologies: Spam filters and secure e-mail gateways can prevent some phishing attacks from reaching employees in the first place. Firewalls and antivirus software can limit the extent of any damage caused by attackers gaining access to the network. Keeping operating systems up-to-date with the latest patches can also close some vulnerabilities that attackers exploit through social engineering. Advanced detection and response solutions, including endpoint detection and response (EDR) and extended detection and response (XDR), can help security teams quickly detect and neutralize security threats that enter the network through Social Engineering techniques.
What is the difference between Ransomware vs. Malware vs. Social Engineering vs. Phishing?
Ransomware, Malware, Social Engineering and Phishing all include different forms of malicious Cyber attacks.
- Malware is a general term formed by the words "malicious" and "software" that describes various types of software intended to compromise systems, obtain sensitive data or gain unauthorized access to a network.
- Ransomware is a category of Malware in which attackers use various methods to encrypt your data, making it inaccessible or denying you access to a particular system or device. Attackers then demand a ransom in exchange for restoring your access.
- Social Engineering on the other hand, is a method used to extract sensitive data through human manipulation. In social engineering, hackers make contact with users while posing as a legitimate organization and try to retrieve critical information such as account numbers or passwords.
- Phishing is a form of social engineering involving the use of e-mail, telephone, text messaging or illegitimate Web sites. In both cases, the information collected is used to gain access to secure accounts or data.