Month: November 2023

Phishing Scams and Social Engineering Tactics

Posted on by Mike

Social engineering is a popular term in the cybersecurity industry. What is it, though, and why are companies so terrified? It is a type of hacking that induces victims to provide information by tricking and manipulating them. Social engineering tactics have caused a lot of devastation and millions of dollars in losses for firms globally, so corporations have reason to be concerned.

One of the most prevalent sorts of attacks today is phishing. It has earned its success because it scams potential victims using tried-and-true social engineering techniques.

What are these Social Engineering Tactics, and how do hackers use them?

Let’s look more closely.

Plays on the emotions of people.

  • People are more likely to act impulsively when terrified, anxious, under pressure, or interested. Hackers rely on this instinctual response to trick victims into disclosing personal information before they consider it. It will already be too late by the time they have collected themselves and grasped the danger.

Creating credibility.

  • People are quick to believe in organizations that have a good reputation. This encompasses both professional contacts and organizations like banks or suppliers. Hackers can establish a trustworthy image that potential victims will almost certainly believe in by impersonating these organizations.

Social Engineering tactics – Content personalization.

  • Hackers can create a web of deceit to catch their targets using a wealth of information available in the public domain. It goes beyond merely addressing a target by name. They can bring up a recent concert they went to or a favorite dining establishment. They make a potential victim feel at ease, which lowers their guard and makes them more open to attack.

Using webpages that appear alike.

  • Hackers frequently send out links to fake login sites that are exact replicas of real ones. Telling you to reset your password because it is about to expire is a common ploy. They provide a link to a fake website where you must submit your information. Although everything appears legitimate, a closer glance at the URL reveals it is a phony link.

Creating scenarios that make people panic.

  • People rarely think clearly while they are panicking. They will take impulsive actions to leave the dangerous situation as soon as possible. You can bet on them to click the link right away if the hackers threaten to cancel their account if they don’t. This is one of their common social engineering tactics to use against you.

Deliberately spelling words incorrectly.

  • The common typos and bad grammar found in phishing emails are deliberate. It is their method of avoiding spam filter’ detection. Despite these obvious mistakes, many people are easily fooled since they are not as alert as virus scanners.

Attacking during special occasions and holidays.

  • During these times, there is a widespread sense of enthusiasm and involvement, and hackers use this to increase the effectiveness of their phishing assaults. Aligning the attacks with these occasions creates the appearance of legality, increasing the likelihood that the targeted person may fall prey.

Malware that spreads through attachments.

  • Most systems can detect and block malware, but if they introduce dangerous files into the system via phishing, your network defenses will be helpless to stop it. Malicious attachments can do harm after installation, including deleting your files and stealing confidential information.

Acting like senior executives is one of their social engineering tactics.

  • You don’t ask questions, and you promptly provide any confidential information that your boss demands. After all, a good employee does that, don’t they? Exactly! For this reason, hackers have used a novel strategy to gain quick access to corporate data: they pose as top executives.

Inventing an excuse.

  • Because the hackers need to gain the trust of their target, these social engineering tactics require a lot of effort and perseverance. They gradually win the victim’s trust, so they may eventually get more information from them.

Final Reflections about Social Engineering Tactics

Since you now understand how hackers employ phishing to practice social engineering tactics, you are prepared to defend yourself from such an assault. However, it is still possible to fall victim despite all knowledge and protective measures. We’ve made an infographic titled “The Top 10 Steps to Take If You Think You’ve Been Hacked” to help with this. This tool is helpful if you believe hackers have compromised you. Right here, you can download it.

Call us for additional details about social engineering or other cybersecurity challenges. We will provide everything you need to strengthen your defense against online threats.

Educating Your Staff to Spot Social Engineering

Posted on by Mike

One of the newest techniques used by hackers to gain private data is social engineering. This method uses human psychology to gather data rather than simply attacking a system. When you consider it, this approach is quite brilliant because it avoids having to go through strict network security. Someone will literally hand the information to the hackers on a silver platter if they can trick even one employee, and they will take over the organization’s entire system. That is why it is important to train your employees on how to spot social engineering.

Businesses need to be aware of how social engineering can seriously jeopardize security. Over 90% of data breaches, according to reports, result from social engineering. Of these cases, 54% involve phishing scams. The good news is that you can avoid most social engineering threats by training your staff members.

Common Social Engineering Methods

There is a lot to cover when teaching employees how to spot social engineering. Discussing the most common strategies would be a reasonable place to start so that staff members can identify and steer clear of them.

The most popular technique is phishing because it is simple to carry out. It produces incredibly fruitful outcomes, at least for the hackers. This technique involves sending emails that trick recipients into clicking a harmful link or disclosing private information without realizing it.

Pretexting is when a hacker manipulates a pretext or made-up scenario to acquire the victim’s trust as part of a more complex social engineering attack strategy. The hacker might trick the victim into disclosing information for something in the quid pro quo attack. Another common way to spot social engineering involves tailgating or piggybacking, in which the victim unwittingly grants the hacker access to a secure site.

Training of Employees is Important to Spot Social Engineering

As you can expect, if your staff wasn’t properly trained or aware of the hazards to spot them, these social engineering tactics would be considerably simpler to implement. The $100 million phishing fraud on Google and Facebook is an example of the immense harm that could result. A group of hackers repeatedly sent phishing emails from 2013 to 2015 to Google and Facebook workers, instructing them to deposit money into phony accounts. Through this technique, they could gain more than $100 million.

Now, even if your company doesn’t bring in that much money, you can still fall victim. Hackers attack small firms on a large scale these days. Every employee of your company, from customer service representatives to top executives, might be a target, so you need to implement training across the board.

Best Practices to Spot Social Engineering for Employees 

There are various ways to teach your staff about how to spot social engineering. A thorough training session works best in a traditional classroom setting, whether in person or online. But a single seminar is not sufficient, which is why we also advise frequent refreshers.

Unannounced phishing simulations are excellent for gauging how much a worker has learned. You’d be astonished at how many individuals perform admirably in theory but cannot recognize the truth when it is staring them in the face in their email. Your staff will learn to be more watchful going forward after experiencing being bitten during a simulated attack.

Final Reflections

If everyone in the organization is adequately aware of the risks and knows what to do if an attack is successful, organizations can attain a high level of protection against social engineering. Along with the many training techniques you’ll use, we strongly suggest that you download our infographic, “The Top 10 Steps to Take If You Think You Have Been Hacked.” Post it on the bulletin boards in each department by printing it out. Ensure that every member of your staff receives a copy as well.

Call us if you’d like to learn more about how to spot social engineering and how to prevent becoming a victim. We can keep your business safe from the prying eyes of cybercriminals and bring you up to speed on the most recent preventive measures.

The Top 8 Phishing Scam Tactics and How to Spot Them

Posted on by Mike

Since the late 1990s, phishing has been a popular hacking technique. You’d think everyone would know how it operates and how to prevent becoming a victim. That is regrettably not the case for these Phishing Scam Tactics. The number of casualties has increased. Over 300,000 people were hacked in the US alone in 2022, resulting in damages of more than $52 million!

Phishing scams have changed with time, which is the issue. Hackers are becoming better at duping unwary victims, but they also have easy access to contemporary technology, which helps them advance their phishing techniques.

The Top 8 Phishing Scam Tactics

At all levels of your organization, you must raise awareness of these frauds to secure your data and your business. Following that, here are the top 8 warning signs of phishing scam tactics and what you can do if you see them.

Fake Emails

Many people open an email when they receive it from a reliable source. Hackers are aware of this and use it for their phishing scam tactics. Even though the email address is completely different, they use a trusted sender’s name to make it appear the email originated from a reliable source. Verify that the sender and the address are the same before opening an email.

Feeling of Urgency

You might become alarmed if you get a message threatening to delete your account or take legal action against you. You might hastily click on the links in the email because of your stress. You would, of course…Avoid getting sued or in trouble with the law! When you get such emails, be cool. Before acting, make sure the information is accurate.

Malicious Links as a Phishing Scam Tactics

Despite being one of the oldest phishing techniques, malicious links are still powerful. These connections may pique someone’s curiosity naturally, while other times they offer a reward. The hackers win when fake emails persuade the unknowing victim to click the link or open the attachment. Once more, double-checking before clicking is a good idea.

Asking for Passwords

Have you ever received a request for your password or other private account information in an email from your bank or credit card provider? Never! Legitimate businesses do not request this kind of information from customers. If you ever receive such a request, block it and disregard it for this is a few example of phishing scam tactics. It’s almost certain that they are hackers attempting to access your account.

Incorrect Spelling and Bad Grammar

Even though many hackers these days have improved their language, misspelled words, and typos can still identify many phishing emails. These emails may make you grimace, but they can seriously harm your company. As a result, you shouldn’t even try to respond or correct your grammar.

Individualized Content

If they address you by your name and title, it sounds like a legitimate email, right? Hackers are highly inventive. That sort of widely available information is easily accessible to them. If you support their efforts, they will access much more. Therefore, be sure to confirm the message’s origins before taking any action.

Phony URLs are used in Phishing Scam Tactics

Another phishing scam technique that has a very high success rate is the use of bogus website URLs. Hackers will invite you to check in after sending emails that appear to be from a reputable source, such as a service provider, and include a link to what seems to be the provider’s actual website. Of course, you submit your login information, thinking you are at a legitimate website, and inadvertently give them full access to your account.

Unwanted Emails

Be immediately suspicious if you receive an email out of the blue that causes you concern since it’s probably a scam. Avoid doing anything they urge you to. Never even respond. Check the email’s source to see whether it is authentic.

Final Reflections

Encourage any employees who experience phishing scam tactics to come forward so that others can be extra cautious. It may not be too late if someone suspects someone has hacked them. There are steps you can take to lessen the harm. Our “The Top 10 Steps to Take If You Think You Have Been Hacked” infographic lists the procedures. By clicking here, you can get it immediately.

Call us to learn more about enhancing your company’s cybersecurity and safeguarding it from phishing schemes. We’ll be pleased to schedule a free consultation for you!

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