Social engineering: Threats, types and methods for countering

Put simply, social engineering is a process of manipulating people with the view to force them to do certain actions that benefit scammers or disclose sensitive information. In the modern information world, social engineering has become one of the most common ways to attack information security. This article will discuss types, techniques, threats of social engineering, and methods to be used to get protected.

A social engineering attack may target anyone, be it an individual or large business. A relevant method is chosen depending on the target and goal of the attack. As a rule, it is at the intersection of technical skills and psychological manipulation of humans. This means that attackers use technical means and knowledge to achieve their criminal goals, backing them up with methods of persuasion and emotional pressure.

Situations involving social engineering vary greatly, as hackers are constantly improving their knowledge and skills, developing new, more advanced deception schemes. Nevertheless, it is essential to know the key methods that social engineering attacks build on. With this basic information, you will be in position to recognize both typical and more sophisticated threats. Let’s look into these methods below.

1. Phishing. This is one of the most common social engineering techniques and a serious cybersecurity threat. It is used by attackers to try and get access to confidential information by masquerading as reliable, legitimate sources. For example, they can use all kinds of ways to lure potential victims to fraudulent websites or distribute malicious files through social media. In case of phishing, methods of social engineering attacks are numerous; therefore you must verify every message from absolutely any source. You should not just follow links, much less leave your personal data after clicking. Your awareness and caution are your main protection in this case.
2. Malicious software. In this case, hackers can use malicious software, such as Trojan horses, spyware or rootkits, as a tool of social engineering to gain unauthorized access to computers and networks, steal sensitive data or damage systems.
3. Reverse engineering. This method involves analyzing software or hardware to discover vulnerabilities and create exploits for attacks.
4. Vishing (social engineering via phone calls). Vishing scammers may make phone calls under the guise of bankers, companies, cryptocurrency platforms or other organizations to convince people to disclose sensitive information over the phone. They often use fake numbers or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology to create an artificial caller ID to make the call look legitimate.
5. Social engineering on social media. Fraudsters often use social media to collect data on attack victims and create fraudulent accounts to play around with people’s trust and reveal their private data.
6. Deepfakes. A relatively new term in the scam domain, deepfakes are so realistic that even the most vigilant audience could now be turned into a target of social engineering attacks. Deepfakes are typically synthetic videos or audios generated by artificial intelligence. AI technology can help simulate an official address to users from any platform or, for example, a call for help from a family member. Therefore to counter social engineering attacks of this type, it is important to inform your co-workers, friends, relatives and partners about the new opportunities that scammers now have thanks to the development of technology. In this case, awareness is already a good protection.
7. Pretexting in social engineering. Pretexting is a type of fraud that involves using a ready-made scenario (known as pretext) with the view to make the victim provide certain information or perform certain actions. These attacks often use phone calls and require preliminary research to personalize the victim, such as find out their name, position and the names of the projects they work on. All this is necessary to lull the victim into a false sense of security and gain their trust.

Now, let’s see what types of psychological manipulation are used by hackers to compel people do things the way they want it. This is essential knowledge for everyone wondering how to avoid becoming a victim of social engineering.

• Persuasion scenarios. Scammers may use credit card offers, lotteries, free distribution of cryptocurrency or any other lucrative deals to gain the attention and trust of the victim.
• Creating a sense of urgency. Oftentimes, attackers try to cause panic and force the victim to act quickly and rashly by warning them that their account may be blocked or there will be other negative implications if they refuse to provide information. They take advantage of the fact that people are often unaware of what social engineering is and thus easily obey the scammers.
• Manipulating trust and authority. A scammer may impersonate an official of a bank, government agency, large corporation or financial platform to gain the victim’s trust and persuade them to disclose information.
• Pressure on emotions. From the perspective of cybersecurity, this is one of the most dangerous aspects of social engineering. Attackers often try to put pressure on emotions, such as fear, curiosity or pity, in order to trigger certain reactions from their victims. For example, they can create artificial situations where victims feel threatened or experience strong emotional distress, making them much more prone to following instructions from others.
• Deception. Criminals may lie to hide their true intentions and to convince victims that they have to take certain actions. A degree to which these lies are sophisticated and convincing depends on the attacker’s experience.

Counting on the social interaction standards. Scammers often rely on their knowledge of social norms to manipulate the behavior of their victims. For example, they may create situations where a person experiences social pressure or a desire to conform to the expectations of other people, such as “It is a shame not to help” or “What will others think of me?”.

By its definition, social engineering remains one of the most serious cybersecurity threats, and it takes a comprehensive approach to combat it effectively. Countering social engineering involves many aspects, both private and corporate. Regular update of your knowledge and methods of protection can help minimize the risk of successful attacks.

Thus, countering social engineering includes the following basic measures:

1. Staff training. It is necessary to regularly deliver courses explaining what social engineering is about and what methods it uses. This will help raise awareness among your employees and reduce the risk of successful attacks.
2. Security policy development and implementation. Clear security policies that prohibit the disclosure of sensitive information via phone, email or other communication channels will reduce your vulnerability to social engineering attacks. You can ask SEVEN SENSES to create such a policy, and we will develop it for you as a separate service.
3. Use of technology. Developing and implementing technology solutions, such as antivirus software, spam filters, and phishing site detection, will help prevent social engineering attacks.
4. Multi-factor authentication. Implementing multi-factor authentication mechanisms, such as passcodes or biometrics, will strengthen protection against unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data.
5. Monitoring and reporting. Constant monitoring of user activity and quick response to suspicious incidents will help to timely detect and prevent attacks.
6. Personal responsibility and foresight. Protection against social engineering always involves the ability to recognize manipulation, the willingness to double-check information and show resilience and caution even under emotional pressure. Therefore, it is safe to say that psychological work deserves a special focus in protecting individuals from social engineering. Otherwise, not even the most effective technical method will have its intended effect.

What should you do if your methods of protection against social engineering did not work and you still became a victim of an attack? You can always contact us for help as part of our Cryptocurrency Incident Investigation service.  We can also test your employees for susceptibility to psychological manipulation that may lead to sensitive data leaks. To do so, you can use our Penetration Test service

In any case, any individual or company employee should have a memo explaining what social engineering is, as the more you know about the threat, the better your chances to avoid it.