Art of Digital Manipulation: Social Engineering in 2022
Worried that someone will steal your data?
Or just want to be aware about the increasing number of phishing sites?
Either way, give this one a read to know ’em all!
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Worried that someone will steal your data?
Or just want to be aware about the increasing number of phishing sites?
Either way, give this one a read to know ’em all!
The continuous advancement of the internet has brought the entire world to our fingertips. People worldwide use many different websites and social media platforms to share content. This improvement has given both us individuals and organizations the opportunity to expand the networks worldwide.
What all of us fail to remember is, as online connectivity improves, so does the risk of cyber-attacks, which can grow and mutate into more complicated activities that we’ll have less chance of stopping.
The majority of cybercriminals use social engineering to commit fraud which will result in compromising the victims’ finances, assets, and sometimes even their personal wellbeing.
What exactly is Social Engineering? And how does it work? Let’s Find out
Social engineering is defined as the act of approaching people and psychologically manipulating them into exposing valuable data (Computers of human behavior report 2021). This technique specifically targets human instincts such as greed, fear and trust to draw victims into their traps.
According to Imperva, Social engineering has 4 steps that a criminal would use to proceed with the crime.
But how would it look when all 4 steps are put together?
To explain this with a scenario; A person receives a message on their phone or receives an email that mentions that they’ve been selected by a fundraising company to be donated with a large amount of money and asks the person to click on a link to verify the email.
Once the person clicks on the malicious link without knowing and enters their login details to verify the email, the perpetrator will trace the information and use it to commit fraud.
Regardless of how much technical knowledge people have, that one moment of weakness is all that it takes for a person to fall in the trap. Likewise, these attacks can cause a wide range of damages, from having your social media account hacked to losing all of your assets, all finances, and even personal wellbeing.
Voice phishing, also known as vishing, occurs when a scammer attempts to trick and obtain sensitive information from their targets via phone calls, which are frequently directed at elderly people. One common vishing scheme involves the scammer impersonating an Internal Revenue Service officer.
The criminal will go to great lengths to exploit the victim, including enticing their targets with reimbursements, threatening them with penalties, and even scaring them in order to obtain their personal information. Anyone, not just the elderly, anyone can become a victim of a phishing scam if you are not adequately trained or aware of it.
Smishing, also known as SMS phishing, employs the same techniques as phishing but is carried out via text messaging.
In a baiting attack, attackers provide victims with something they believe will be useful. This could be a phony software update that is actually a malicious file, a hacked USB drive with a tag indicating it contains valuable information or another method.
A quid pro quo attack (also known as a “something for something” attack) is a type of baiting. A quid pro quo attack, as opposed to baiting a target with the promise of a specific service, promises a service or benefit in exchange for the execution of a specific action.
Pretexting occurs when a scammer creates a scenario in which they pretend to be someone in a powerful position in order to persuade the victim to obey their orders. This is similar to the screenplay described in Vishing above, in which scammers pose as Internal Revenue Service auditors. Criminals may also impersonate police officers or other powerful people in order to obtain information.
Scareware is also known as deception software, rogue scanner software, and fraud software. Scareware typically occurs when users are bombarded with false alarms and bogus threats.
Hackers may also trick users into believing their computer or system is infected with malware, inducing them to install software that serves no purpose other than to benefit the scammer or maybe malware itself.
Pop-up banners that appear while you browse the internet are a common example of scareware. It will approach you with the following message: “Your computer may be infected with harmful malware programs.” On the right-hand side of your computer screen, or even in the center. Clicking on such pop-ups will, in all likelihood, infect your computer.
The difference between phishing and spear-phishing is basically the targets and the way the attacks are being crafted to suit the target.
Phishing scams target a large population at once, with the expectation that only a very few of them would respond.
Spear phishing scams specifically target potential individuals and craft their attack in a way that the victim would undeniably respond.
Social engineering is what draws the victim’s attention towards the attack. The form of social engineering attacks can vary from a tempting reward to a security warning.
You might, for example, receive an official email from a reliable source notifying you as “Dear Google User. You have been chosen as a winner for using Google services; please verify your email to receive your reward.
The purpose to create the mail is to approach the target, deceiving people by impersonating a globally trusted company is social engineering.
Cybercriminals use many other ways to approach people. Let’s talk about the main forms of attacks that you can be exposed to.
Although your Device (MAC or Windows) comes with some level of inbuilt virus protection it is best to install third-party antivirus software that is designed to block malware and threatening programs. It also provides total protection with endpoint protection and responses.
Above mentioned are a few of the best and most popular anti-phishing software editions which you can use for free. Installing quality anti-phishing software is necessary to keep our devices at a safe distance from dangers.
Do not open any document or click on any links that come attached to unknown emails. If in case you receive any pay more attention to following details,
We tend to click on links and download files that we receive through the mail that are work-related the majority of times. And the possibility of clicking on a malicious link stands comparatively high. Always make sure to be cautious when going through emails even if you know they are genuine.
Receiving these messages through email or even a phone call are possibilities. Make sure to always confirm their identity with the company with which they claim to work. Do not think twice to question them. Conduct your own online research to confirm the legality of both the organization and the individual who has contacted you.
Browsers include security features designed to protect users from cyber-attacks. Malicious site detection, malware protection, sandboxing, and anti-phishing plugins and extensions are some of the most important features.
Apart from these features, consider optimizing the settings of your web browser. All famous browsers have inbuilt security features. Most of the users forget to set it up on installation and some don’t even know it exists.
Failing to set up these can put you at a higher risk of malicious attacks and infections. Though you can’t expect total protection from these features, setting up the security features properly will help increase the security of these web browsers.
Worried if someone would steal your data even if you take all these measures? Don’t worry. Telepathz got you covered.
We provide a direct, secure, and encrypted connection between two platoons, and the data shared is never stored or saved.
Telepathz acts as a secure digital courier, providing a dedicated encrypted connection between you and your family or coworkers. Allowing the sharing of confidential information such as credit card numbers, bank statements, and company documents when necessary.