Social engineering is a dishonest technique used by individuals or organisations to trick others into disclosing sensitive information, taking actions, or making judgements that jeopardise security or secrecy (Nanda & De, 2022). It often entails attacking human psychology rather than technological flaws, making it an effective weapon in cyberattacks. This paper looks into the world of social engineering, looking at real-life instances, warning indicators, and preventative methods.
Social engineering is a dishonest technique used by individuals or organisations to trick others into disclosing sensitive information, taking actions, or making judgements that jeopardise security or secrecy (Nanda & De, 2022). It often entails attacking human psychology rather than technological flaws, making it an effective weapon in cyberattacks. This paper looks into the world of social engineering, looking at real-life instances, warning indicators, and preventative methods.
Examples of Social Engineering
Email Phishing
Phishing emails are a common and pernicious kind of social engineering. Malicious actors use this method to painstakingly create emails that look to be from respectable organisations such as banks, social media platforms, or government institutions (Parthy & Rajendran, 2019). The goal is to trick recipients into thinking the email is legitimate, luring them to click on embedded malicious links, download malicious files, or reveal personal data such as passwords and bank information.
Pretexting
Pretexting is a deceitful social engineering method in which an attacker creates a fake situation or pretext to trick others into disclosing private or personal information (Nanda & De, 2022). It entails establishing a fake name by impersonating a trusted authority figure, coworker, or service provider. Pretexting focuses on psychological manipulation to acquire important information or access from unsuspecting victims (Breda et al., 2017).
Piggybacking and Tailgating
Tailgating and piggybacking are physical access control security breaches in which an unauthorised person gets access to a protected location by closely following an authorised user without performing necessary verification (Parthy & Rajendran, 2019). This misleading strategy takes advantage of the trust-based characteristics of secure systems. Piggybacking is similar, but generally entails the intruder blending into a group to gain unobserved entrance to the protected area.
Baiting
Baiting takes advantage of human needs and curiosity to trick victims into jeopardising their digital security (Breda et al., 2017). This misleading method entices people with something they want, such as a free download, movie, or piece of software, only to deliver dangerous payloads like malware or viruses when they respond according to Salahdine & Kaabouch (2019).
Recognizing Signs of Social Engineering
Recognising and defending against social engineering efforts is critical for personal and organisational security. The following are major sings of social engineering: The production of a false sense of urgency and pressure is one of the most visible signs of a social engineering endeavour (Parthy & Rajendran, 2019). They may employ ominous rhetoric or threats to create a feeling of impending peril, forcing people to make hasty judgements.
Another strategy used by social engineers is to promote offers or messages that seem too good to be true (Salahdine & Kaabouch, 2019). Such promises play on people's inherent tendencies towards avarice and curiosity. Cybercriminals make use of these basic urges to entice victims into their traps. Unsolicited requests for sensitive information or system access are warning signs of social engineering (Parthy & Rajendran, 2019). Attackers often begin contact by acting as trustworthy institutions such as banks, government agencies, or respected organisations via unwanted correspondence.
Inconsistent communication is another clear symptom of social engineering tactics, especially when phishing is involved (Mattera & Chowdhury, 2021). Typos, bad grammar, and inconsistent phrasing may be seen in phishing emails or communications. These mistakes may be the result of hurriedly written texts by hackers who do not prioritise professionalism in their interactions. Receiving a message from an unknown source demanding sensitive information is another sign of a social engineering effort (Breda et al., 2017). To check the request's validity, it is best to confirm the sender's identification using well-known and reputable methods, such as official contact information supplied by the organisation or institution they claim to represent.
Preventing Social Engineering
Effective precautions that may help protect against social engineering attacks are as follows:
Education and training. Educate workers and people about social engineering strategies and the value of scepticism on a regular basis (Abeywardana et al., 2016). Training may help them recognise and reject efforts at manipulation.
Requests for sensitive information, access, or financial transactions should always be verified via various channels (Abeywardana et al., 2016). Call the requesting person using known contact information to validate the validity of their request.
· Put in place access controls. Restriction of access to sensitive regions and data (Breda et al., 2017). To improve security, use robust authentication mechanisms such as biometrics or two-factor authentication.
Update security policies. Regularly update and implement security rules and procedures to meet evolving social engineering risks and vulnerabilities (Abeywardana et al., 2016).
Incident response strategies. Create and practice incident response strategies to mitigate the impact of successful social engineering assaults (Mattera & Chowdhury, 2021). Rapid detection and containment are crucial.
Conclusion
In today's networked society, social engineering is a pervasive and severe menace. Individuals and organisations may better defend themselves against these misleading strategies by studying real-life instances, identifying the indications of social engineering, and applying preventative measures. Education and vigilance continue to be critical components of social engineering defence, ensuring that the human factor remains a powerful defence rather than a weakness.
References
Abeywardana, K. Y., Pfluegel, E., & Tunnicliffe, M. J. (2016). A layered defense mechanism for a social engineering aware perimeter. In 2016 SAI computing conference (SAI) pp. 1054-1062.
Breda, F., Barbosa, H., & Morais, T. (2017). Social engineering and cyber security. In INTED2017 Proceedings. IATED, pp. 4204-4211.
Mattera, M., & Chowdhury, M. M. (2021). Social engineering: the looming threat. In 2021 IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology (EIT). pp. 056-061.
Nanda, I., & De, R. (2022). Social Engineering: An Introduction. Information Management and Computer Science (IMCS), 5(2), 36-37.
Parthy, P. P., & Rajendran, G. (2019). Identification and prevention of social engineering attacks on an enterprise. In 2019 International Carnahan Conference on Security Technology (ICCST) pp. 1-5.
Salahdine, F., & Kaabouch, N. (2019). Social engineering attacks: A survey. Future internet, 11(4), 89.
Author Bio:
Hamza K. Omullah is a researcher, educator, writer, editor, proofreader and consultant. He’s also the founder and CEO of HAMNIC Solutions – A research support & consultancy platform. He works towards sharing knowledge, enhancing research activities and bettering educational and scientific research in colleges and universities with the help of technology. Multitasking comes naturally to him, as he has worked as a freelance writer and researcher for more to ten years. When not at his desk, he can be found reading novels, socializing, and networking. He can be reached via Linkedin.
