What Is Social Engineering?

Protecting your organization against social engineering attacks has become more crucial than ever. Modern social engineering attacks exploit sophisticated methods to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information, all without setting off traditional security alarms. Understanding social engineering attacks and adopting best practices to prevent them is essential for organizations that prioritize data protection, resilience, and customer loyalty.

In this article, we’ll explore the mechanisms behind social engineering, outline specific types of attacks, discuss the dangers they pose, and provide actionable insights on protecting your organization against them.

What is social engineering?

Social engineering is a form of cyber attack that relies on psychological manipulation to gain access to sensitive information or systems. It involves deceiving individuals into revealing confidential data. 

A social engineering attack is “an attempt to trick someone into revealing information (e.g., a password) that can be used to attack systems or networks.” — NIST SP 800-61 Rev. 2  

Malicious actors use social engineering because it’s often easier and more effective than attempting to compromise security systems using technical tactics. By exploiting human emotions and carelessness, attackers can obtain the data they need without much effort. Their goal is typically to extract information to facilitate further malicious activities within your organization’s systems.

How social engineering works

Cybercriminals use various social engineering tactics to manipulate human trust and curiosity, often by assuming false identities or inventing believable stories. As technologies develop, cybercriminals get craftier by sending personalized phishing messages generated by AI or voice/video deepfakes of executives.

The list of techniques constantly grows. Here’s a look at the most common social engineering examples you should be aware of:

Phishing

Phishing is a classic social engineering tactic where attackers send fraudulent emails or messages that mimic legitimate sources. The goal is to trick recipients into disclosing sensitive information or clicking on harmful links. For example, an attacker might pretend to be a tech support member from a popular e-commerce platform like Amazon, sending an email that alerts you about a “suspicious login attempt” and asking you to “verify” your account by clicking a link. Phishing attacks can fall into two categories:

• Bulk phishing. This type of phishing involves sending mass emails to a large number of recipients, often with generic content.
• Spear phishing. Unlike bulk phishing, spear phishing targets specific individuals or groups within an organization. These emails are customized and more convincing.

Vishing

Known as “voice phishing,” the vishing technique leverages phone calls to manipulate victims into sharing confidential details. Scammers often pose as trusted entities like banks, tech support, or company personnel and create a sense of urgency to extract information quickly.

Baiting

Baiting involves luring victims into a trap by offering something enticing to trick them into sharing private information. For instance, attackers may post links that offer free concert tickets or free downloads for popular software, movies, or games. Those links direct users to malicious websites that prompt people to enter personal details or download harmful software.

Pretexting

In this technique, an attacker fabricates a believable story or “pretext” to manipulate a target into revealing sensitive information or performing specific actions. For instance, a scammer might impersonate a member of your IT staff and request login details under the guise of “resolving an issue.” Unlike phishing, which tries to invoke some sense of urgency or fear, pretexting relies heavily on crafting a convincing story to manipulate the target into compliance.

Business email compromise (BEC) 

BEC attacks are carefully targeted and especially damaging financially. Attackers impersonate executives or finance team members to trick employees into transferring funds or disclosing sensitive information.

CEO fraud is a subtype of BEC in which cybercriminals pretend to be top executives, often in urgent emails, and pressure employees to approve unauthorized transactions or share confidential data.

Deepfake scams

Using advanced AI, cybercriminals can create realistic fake audio or video recordings that appear to be from trusted individuals. Deepfake technology allows attackers to convincingly impersonate CEOs, managers, or other authorities and make requests that seem authentic.

These are the most common types of social engineering attacks, but new variations are constantly emerging. The most troubling part is that each of them can harm your organization in different ways.

Why is social engineering dangerous for organizations?

Social engineering attacks are particularly dangerous because they exploit the weakest link in any security system: the human element. Unlike hacking, social engineering bypasses traditional security controls by directly manipulating people, making it harder to detect.

Social engineering attacks can have a range of severe consequences for organizations, including:

Financial losses

Social engineering attacks, especially BEC and CEO fraud, often lead to direct financial losses. Attackers can trick employees into making unauthorized payments, transferring funds, or exposing valuable assets, which can amount to millions in damages for large organizations. Recovering from any social engineering attack also often involves costly forensic investigations and IT security overhauls. 

Data privacy violations

When attackers obtain access to sensitive data, they gain the ability to expose confidential information about customers, employees, or business operations, which can lead to lawsuits. Regulatory bodies impose significant fines and penalties for failing to adequately protect sensitive data under regulations, standards, and laws like the GDPR and HIPAA. 

Loss of intellectual property

Cybercriminals can use social engineering to steal your intellectual property, trade secrets, or strategic business plans. If this information is sold or leaked, it can result in a loss of competitive advantage for your organization. 

Reputational damage

News about a successful social engineering attack can damage your organization’s reputation, especially if customer data or proprietary information is compromised. Losing customer trust can affect your client retention, market value, and future business opportunities.

Operational disruptions

Social engineering attacks can interrupt day-to-day operations, especially if malware, such as ransomware, is deployed and exploited. This can bring a halt to your critical systems, delay projects, and decrease productivity until the threat is resolved.

Considering the above, effective social engineering prevention measures can save you money, reputation, and a competitive edge. 

How to protect your organization from social engineering attacks

Protecting an organization from social engineering attacks involves a mix of employee training, security protocols, and technology solutions. Here are some of the most effective practices that can help you prevent social engineering attacks and enhance your overall security:

1. Raise employee awareness

Conduct regular cybersecurity training sessions to raise employee awareness of social engineering tactics. Encourage employees to report any suspicious emails and interactions, even if they’re unsure whether they pose threats. It’s also a good practice to send mock phishing emails to test your employees’ ability to recognize social engineering attacks. 

2. Limit access to sensitive data

Limiting access to sensitive data and assigning access rights based on employee roles and responsibilities can significantly reduce the impact of social engineering attacks. By enforcing the principle of least privilege, organizations can minimize the potential damage if an attacker does succeed in fooling an employee. You may also choose to implement user activity monitoring software to track users’ access to and handling of sensitive data. Regularly perform user access reviews to make sure there is no privilege creep.

3. Establish strong password policies

Implement policies for strong password management and protection. These policies should necessarily include regular password updates to limit the window of exposure in the event that an employee’s credentials are compromised. You can also deploy automated workforce password management tools to secure employee credentials.  And to add a layer of protection that goes beyond password reliance, consider requiring multi-factor authentication for all accounts within your IT environment.

4. Use email filtering tools

Deploy anti-phishing filters that detect and block phishing emails before they reach your employees. You can also use URL filtering to restrict access to malicious links, thus reducing the likelihood of malware or ransomware spreading within your network.

5. Develop a clear incident response plan

Define key steps and procedures that must be followed if a social engineering attack occurs. Your incident response plan should include containment, mitigation, and reporting measures. We also recommend conducting routine drills to simulate social engineering incidents and practice the execution of response protocols to improve real-time readiness.

These practices, combined with deploying a comprehensive cybersecurity platform like Syteca, can help you detect, resist, and respond to potential social engineering attacks. Offering robust access management and user activity monitoring, Syteca gives you all the tools necessary to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals attempting to exploit human vulnerabilities.