Institutions spend a large proportion of their technology budgets on securing their systems. Allocates a lot of time and resources to security programs, surveillance tools and security updates. Although all this is important, the history of cybersecurity events has proven that humans, not technology, are the weakest link in the security chain.
Although artificial intelligence and machine learning are slowly gaining ground in cybersecurity, the vast majority of the IT security infrastructure companies use today have been built to comply with the orders issued by humans. In this sense, the technology does not have any special consideration and only follow the programming code. Humans, on the other hand, have independent thinking and do not always follow a predictable pattern of thought and movement.
This is why the easiest and most effective way to circumvent security controls is social engineering. Social engineering is the use of phishing to penetrate enterprise systems. While the threat scene is becoming increasingly complex every day, it is still a social engineering technique that is most damaging to company systems and business data.
Because social engineering relies heavily on manipulating and lying to human objectives, there are necessarily different forms that an attack may take. Here are the most common social engineering attack methods.
1. Phishing
Phishing is the most common type of social attack. Almost half of global e-mail traffic is spam, a large proportion of which is phishing e-mail. However, phishing can also be performed via SMS, instant messaging, and social media. The message attempts to deceive the recipient to divulge sensitive information (such as passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers) or visit a malicious malicious URL.
In order for phishing to work, it must mimic the message content, colors, logos, images, and contact addresses of the organization that the recipient considers to be respectful and trustworthy. The message must also create a sense of urgency by suggesting that the situation may be out of control if the information is not delivered immediately.
2. Tailgating
Phishing is a tactic that can be used to get a default access to an application. Tailgating (also referred to as piggybacking) is a social engineering technique designed to grant individual physical access to an area without proper permission.
In its simplest form, the attacker will wait for an authorized person to use his or her access card or biometric credentials to open an electronic access control door. They will walk behind them before closing the door.
This method requires the attacker to be physically present. In this way, he tries to reach the area he wants by circumventing the user who has access to the place.
3. Pretend
The attacker creates a reasonable but fabricated excuse to establish trust between himself and the victim in order to extract sensitive information. For example, he can contact the target and pretend he needs certain information to activate a new system account or verify the identity of the target.
This method may take weeks to gather information so that the attacker looks like a trusted person. For example, if they choose the actual staff names in the IT department, the target individual will be more confident in any request for information submitted to them. While the primary catalyst for phishing is the urgency and fear, the demonstration technique seeks to build confidence.
This is why the easiest and most effective way to circumvent security controls is social engineering. Social engineering is the use of phishing to penetrate enterprise systems. While the threat scene is becoming increasingly complex every day, it is still a social engineering technique that is most damaging to company systems and business data.
Because social engineering relies heavily on manipulating and lying to human objectives, there are necessarily different forms that an attack may take. Here are the most common social engineering attack methods.
1. Phishing
Phishing is the most common type of social attack. Almost half of global e-mail traffic is spam, a large proportion of which is phishing e-mail. However, phishing can also be performed via SMS, instant messaging, and social media. The message attempts to deceive the recipient to divulge sensitive information (such as passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers) or visit a malicious malicious URL.
In order for phishing to work, it must mimic the message content, colors, logos, images, and contact addresses of the organization that the recipient considers to be respectful and trustworthy. The message must also create a sense of urgency by suggesting that the situation may be out of control if the information is not delivered immediately.
2. Tailgating
Phishing is a tactic that can be used to get a default access to an application. Tailgating (also referred to as piggybacking) is a social engineering technique designed to grant individual physical access to an area without proper permission.
In its simplest form, the attacker will wait for an authorized person to use his or her access card or biometric credentials to open an electronic access control door. They will walk behind them before closing the door.
This method requires the attacker to be physically present. In this way, he tries to reach the area he wants by circumventing the user who has access to the place.
3. Pretend
The attacker creates a reasonable but fabricated excuse to establish trust between himself and the victim in order to extract sensitive information. For example, he can contact the target and pretend he needs certain information to activate a new system account or verify the identity of the target.
This method may take weeks to gather information so that the attacker looks like a trusted person. For example, if they choose the actual staff names in the IT department, the target individual will be more confident in any request for information submitted to them. While the primary catalyst for phishing is the urgency and fear, the demonstration technique seeks to build confidence.
