PEOPLE HACKING AWARENESS (SOCIAL ENGINEERING): 5 WHAT IS SOCIAL ENGINEERING?

 

Social engineering refers to the psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. Rather than using technical hacking techniques, social engineers trick unsuspecting victims into handing over access or data voluntarily.

This is accomplished by exploiting human tendencies and emotions. Common tactics include phishing, pretexting, baiting, quid pro quo, tailgating, and impersonation. For example, a social engineer may send a fake email pretending to be from a trusted source to get login credentials. Or they may pose as an authority figure to get access to a restricted area.

Social engineers are skilled at deception, persuasion, and gaining people's trust. They do extensive research on targets to uncover vulnerabilities and exploit them. An adept social engineer can gather enough information to impersonate coworkers or authenticate themselves as legitimate users.

Defending against social engineering requires vigilance, skepticism, and policies that limit data access. Since the targets are people rather than computer systems, technology alone cannot provide robust protection. Fostering awareness of common tactics is key to avoiding manipulation.