What are Social Engineering Attacks and How to Protect Against Them
Social engineering attacks are surging, targeting employees who have access to sensitive data. Learn how to protect your organisation by educating employees, implementing security policies, and improving data visibility.
Key Points:
- Employees are the most common targets for cyberattacks. This is because they often have access to sensitive information and may not be aware of cybersecurity best practices. Social engineering attacks are a common way for hackers to exploit employees.
- Social engineering attacks are on the rise. These attacks use deception to trick employees into giving up sensitive information or taking actions that compromise an organisation's security.
- Organisations can mitigate the risk of social engineering attacks by educating employees about social engineering and how to spot them, implementing policies and procedures that make it more difficult for attackers to succeed, limiting employee access to critical systems and data and improving visibility into their IT environment so they can detect suspicious activity.
Cybersecurity and risk department leaders can invest in all the best cybersecurity tools but if they’re not focusing on securing their own employees, they’re opening themselves up to a major security gap.
Employees often have access to company secrets, its most critical and sensitive files, and access to databases and servers that, if compromised, can result in an organisation being disrupted to the point of being unable to perform their services.
What is Meant by Social Engineering?
Social engineering refers to a set of attacks and methods that result in a compromised employee, potentially without their knowledge.
Social engineering attacks are usually the first attack a hacker deploys in order to further damage an organisation. Through social engineering, malicious attackers may be able to drop ransomware in a sensitive environment, reach customer data, or exfiltrate trade secrets.
Unfortunately, the average employee isn’t a cybersecurity expert and they may not even be aware that they have access to sensitive information. This may result in lax security measures or a willingness to fall victim to a social engineering attack designed to prey on their lack of knowledge.
It’s this combination of access and relative unawareness that make them the perfect target for malicious hackers and bad actors. This is why employees are often the most common targets and are usually hit with social engineering attacks that can lead to compromised organisations and assets.
In 2021, social engineering attacks increased 270%, largely due to the expanded use of cloud-based services. Because critical files and data are no longer housed within a company’s own servers, hackers know they’re more likely to succeed with social engineering attacks that give them access to employee accounts.
Example: What a social engineering attack might look like
Imagine you get a call from someone claiming to be from your bank. They sound urgent and say there's been suspicious activity on your account. They ask you to confirm your details right away to prevent any problems.
The caller creates urgency by saying your account could be frozen or money stolen if you don’t act quickly. They ask for personal information like your account number and password to "verify" your identity.
In this scenario, the caller is using social engineering to manipulate your trust and urgency. They exploit these feelings to get you to share sensitive information, which could put your finances at risk.
11 Common Techniques of Social Engineering Used by Hackers
Social engineering can vary from high to low sophistication in terms of the technology or methods used.
Here are several common techniques:
1. Using Personal Information
Hackers use personal information to gain trust, as seen in the Uber hack where the attacker posed as IT support.
2. Impersonation
Often used in phishing, ransomware, and BEC attacks, where an attacker pretends to be someone within the organisation with more authority than the victim.
3. Baiting
Luring victims with promises or curiosity, such as leaving malware-infected USB drives in public places.
4. Scareware
Victims are bombarded with false alarms and fictitious threats, tricking them into thinking their system is infected. They are prompted to install useless or malicious software, often via legitimate-looking pop-ups or spam emails.
5. Phishing
Email and text campaigns create urgency or fear to prompt victims into revealing information or clicking malicious links.
6. Spear Phishing
A targeted form of phishing where attackers tailor their messages to specific individuals or organisations, making the attack more convincing and harder to detect.
7. Honey Traps
Attackers feign romantic interest to extract sensitive information.
8. Vishing
Voice phishing, where attackers use phone calls to deceive victims into revealing personal information by posing as trusted entities like banks or tech support.
9. Smishing
Similar to phishing, but conducted through SMS messages to trick individuals into revealing personal information or installing malware.
10. Quid Pro Quo
Offering a service or benefit in exchange for information, such as pretending to be IT support offering to fix an issue in return for login credentials.
11. Tailgating
Gaining physical access to restricted areas by following closely behind someone with legitimate access, often using the pretext of being in a hurry or carrying heavy objects.
By understanding these techniques, organisations can better prepare their employees to recognise and respond to social engineering attacks, thereby enhancing their overall security posture.
9 ways to protect against the risk of social engineering attacks
Because of how personal social engineering attacks are and the various channels the attacks use, there’s no one way to defend against them. Defending against social engineering attacks involves a mix of training, policies, and technology.
Here’s what you can do to protect your organisation:
1. Build a positive security culture
Create an environment where everyone feels comfortable reporting suspicious activities. It's about fostering a mindset that values security and encourages vigilance in both digital and real-world scenarios.
2. Employee training and awareness
Regularly train your team on different social engineering tactics like phishing emails and phone scams. Teach them how to spot suspicious requests for information and remind them to always verify before sharing sensitive data.
3. Implement strong policies and procedures
Set clear guidelines on how employees should handle sensitive information and respond to potential threats. Make sure they know who to contact if they suspect a security breach.
4. Test and validate security awareness
Conduct simulated attacks to test your team’s readiness. It helps to see where additional training might be needed and reinforces good security habits.
5. Leverage security technology
Use tools like firewalls, antivirus software, and email filters to protect against malware and other malicious activities. These tools act as your digital security guards.
6. Adopt Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Strengthen your login security with MFA. It adds an extra layer of protection by requiring more than just a password to access accounts.
7. Regularly update and patch systems
Keep your software up to date with the latest patches. This prevents hackers from exploiting known vulnerabilities in your systems.
8. Monitor and analyse network traffic
Keep an eye on your network for any unusual activity that could signal an attack. Monitoring helps you catch potential threats early.
9. Enhance physical security measures
Don’t forget about physical security. Use access controls and surveillance to protect sensitive areas from unauthorised entry.
How can Metomic help?
Metomic provides essential tools and solutions to enhance your organisation's resilience against social engineering attacks:
- Data visibility and control: Gain comprehensive visibility into your sensitive data across SaaS applications. Metomic helps you monitor access and ensure data security, reducing the risk of unauthorised exposure.
- Monitoring and alerts: Detect suspicious activities and potential threats in real-time with Metomic's monitoring capabilities. Customised workflows can restrict document sharing with designated domains like Gmail.
- Compliance and governance: Ensure compliance with data protection regulations and industry standards. Metomic supports data governance and policy enforcement, helping you manage permissions and maintain regulatory compliance.
To learn more about how Metomic can add an extra layer to your organisations' data security posture, book a personalised demo with one of our security specialists today.
