B 16: PEOPLE HACKING: WHAT ARE THE SIGNS, PERSONALITIES AND TRAITS SOCIAL ENGINEER HACKERS LOOK FOR IN THEIR TARGET IDENTIFICATION AND CHOOSING

 

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS, PERSONALITIES AND TRAITS SOCIAL ENGINEER HACKERS LOOK FOR IN THEIR TARGET IDENTIFICATION AND CHOOSING
Social engineer hackers look for various signs and personality traits in their target identification and choosing.
Here are some key aspects:
Trust:	Individuals who are trusting may be more vulnerable to social engineering attacks, as they are more likely to believe the attacker’s lies or deceptions
Curiosity:	Our natural curiosity can lead us to click on links or open files that we shouldn’t, especially if they’re presented in a compelling or intriguing way
Ignorance:	Not everyone is well-versed in the tactics used by social engineers, making them more susceptible to these types of attacks
Desire to Help:	Many people have a strong desire to help others, especially if they believe the person is in distress. Attackers can exploit this by posing as someone in need
Authority:	People tend to comply with requests from authority figures without question. Social engineers often impersonate bosses, law enforcement, or other figures of authority to trick their targets into complying with their requests
Reciprocity:	People tend to want to return a favour when someone helps them, which can be exploited in a social engineering attack
Social Validation:	People often look to others for cues on how to behave. Attackers can use this tendency to manipulate individuals into taking actions they might not otherwise take
Scarcity:	When something is scarce or time-limited, people are often compelled to act quickly without fully considering the consequences
Fear:	Fear is a powerful motivator. Attackers often use scare tactics to rush individuals into providing sensitive information or granting access to systems
Laziness:	People often seek the path of least resistance, which can sometimes lead to lax security habits
By understanding these signs and personality traits, individuals and organizations can better protect themselves against social engineering attacks
As for the most common targets of social engineering hackers, they usually start by identifying targets who have what they’re seeking.	This usually includes credentials, data, unauthorized access, money, confidential information, etc.
They scope out potential victims online and all a hacker needs to do is convince one under-informed, stressed, or trusting person to do what they say.	The results are worth it
Here are some open-source statistics:
98% of all cyber-attacks rely on some form of social engineering.
Between 70 and 90% of data breaches involve social engineering.
Approximately 84% of organizations in the United States fell victim to at least one email phishing attack in 20221.
Organizations face an astonishing 700+ social engineering attacks every year.
Social engineering attacks cost companies $130,000 on average.
36% of all data breaches involve phishing.
Men are 225% more likely to fall for phishing attacks than women