Social Engineering

Social engineering has been around for centuries; it uses human interactions to manipulate people into giving out confidential information. Today, however, the technique is coupled with technology.

?As we use more online platforms, we increase our digital footprints. The amount of information hackers can find out about us is unprecedented.

Social engineering was the cause of a significant volume of data breaches in the Office of the Australia Information commissioner’s (OAIC) August 2021 report and has become a top attack pattern.

The reason: 2021 created the perfect environment for manipulation as cybercriminals capitalised on fear and concern around the pandemic and a rapidly growing remote workforce.

Crowdstrike’s 2022 Global Threat Report highlighted how social engineering techniques were frequently used to tailor phishing campaigns, malicious spam emails and fraudulent scams. The coming year will no doubt see more ingenious social engineering tactics being used against us.??

As social engineering techniques can evade traditional defences, the end-user remains a crucial link in stopping breaches.

When it comes to social engineering, remember:

• Attacks target human emotions and behaviours such as greed, curiosity, fear and the desire to help.
• Always verify the legitimacy of a request by ensuring you’re speaking to the correct person.
• Never let urgency or time sensitivity rush you into making a bad decision.