Social Engineering
What is Social Engineering
Social engineering attack in Germany is the term used for a broad range of malicious activities accomplished through human
interactions. It uses psychological manipulation to trick users into making security mistakes or giving away sensitive
information.
Social engineering attacks happen in one or more steps. A perpetrator first investigates the intended victim to gather necessary
background information, such as potential points of entry and weak security protocols, needed to proceed with the attack.
Then, the attacker moves to gain the victim’s trust and provide stimuli for subsequent actions that break security practices,
such as revealing sensitive information or granting access to critical resources.
What makes social engineering in Germany especially dangerous is that it relies on human error, rather than vulnerabilities in
software and operating systems. Mistakes made by legitimate users are much less predictable, making them harder to identify
and thwart than a malware-based intrusion.
Social Engineering Prevention
Social engineering attacks come in many different forms and can be performed anywhere that human interaction is involved.
The following are the five most common forms of digital social engineering attacks in German
Baiting
As its name implies, baiting attacks use a false promise to pique a victim’s greed or curiosity. They lure users into a trap that steals their personal information or infects their systems with malware. The most reviled form of baiting uses physical media to disperse malware. For example, attackers leave the bait—typically malware-infected flash drives in conspicuous areas where potential victims are certain to see them (e.g., bathrooms, elevators, the parking lot of a targeted company). The bait has an authentic look to it, such as a label presenting it as the company’s payroll list. Victims pick up the bait out of curiosity and insert it into a work or home computer, resulting in automatic malware installation on the system. Baiting scams don’t necessarily have to be carried out in the physical world. Online forms of baiting consist of enticing ads that lead to malicious sites or that encourage users to download a malware-infected application.
Scareware
Scareware involves victims being bombarded with false alarms and fictitious threats. Users are deceived to think their system is infected with malware, prompting them to install software that has no real benefit (other than for the perpetrator) or is malware itself. Scareware is also referred to as deception software, rogue scanner software, and fraudware. A common scareware example is the legitimate-looking pop-up banners appearing in your browser while surfing the web, displaying such text such as, “Your computer may be infected with harmful spyware programs.” It either offers to install the tool (often malware-infected) for you, or will direct you to a malicious site where your computer becomes infected. Scareware is also distributed via spam email that doles out bogus warnings or makes offers for users to buy worthless/harmful services.
Pretexting
Here an attacker obtains information through a series of cleverly crafted lies. The scam is often initiated by a perpetrator pretending to need sensitive information from a victim so as to perform a critical task. The attacker usually starts by establishing trust with their victim by impersonating co-workers, police, bank and tax officials, or other persons who have right-to-know authority. The pre-texter asks questions that are ostensibly required to confirm the victim’s identity, through which they gather important personal data. All sorts of pertinent information and records are gathered using this scam, such as social security numbers, personal addresses and phone numbers, phone records, staff vacation dates, bank records, and even security information related to a physical plant.
Phishing
This is a more targeted version of the phishing scam whereby an attacker chooses specific individuals or enterprises. They then tailor their messages based on characteristics, job positions, and contacts belonging to their victims to make their attack less conspicuous. Spear phishing requires much more effort on behalf of the perpetrator and may take weeks and months to pull off. They’re much harder to detect and have better success rates if done skillfully. A spear-phishing scenario might involve an attacker who, in impersonating an organization’s IT consultant, sends an email to one or more employees. It’s worded and signed exactly as the consultant normally does, thereby deceiving recipients into thinking it’s an authentic message. The message prompts recipients to change their password and provides them with a link that redirects them to a malicious page where the attacker now captures their credentials.
Social Engineering Prevention
Social engineers manipulate human feelings, such as curiosity or fear, to carry out schemes and draw victims into their traps.
Therefore, be wary whenever you feel alarmed by an email, attracted to an offer displayed on a website, or when you come
across stray digital media lying about. Being alert can help you protect yourself against most social engineering attacks taking
place in the digital realm.
Moreover, the following tips can help improve your vigilance in relation to social engineering hacks.
- Don’t open emails and attachments from suspicious sources – If you don’t know the sender in question, you don’t need to
answer an email. Even if you do know them and are suspicious about their message, cross-check and confirm the news
from other sources, such as via telephone or directly from a service provider’s site. Remember that email addresses are spoofed all of the time; even an email purportedly coming from a trusted source may have actually been initiated by an attacker. - Use multifactor authentication – One of the most valuable pieces of information attackers seek are user credentials. Using multifactor authentication helps ensure your account’s protection in the event of system compromise.
- Be wary of tempting offers – If an offer sounds too enticing, think twice before accepting it as fact. Googling the topic can help you quickly determine whether you’re dealing with a legitimate offer or a trap.
- Keep your antivirus/antimalware software updated – Make sure automatic updates are engaged, or make it a habit to download the latest signatures first thing each day. Periodically check to make sure that the updates have been applied, and scan your system for possible infections.