Understanding Social Engineering
cybersecuritypsychological manipulationinformation securitysocial engineeringemployee awareness
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Social engineering, in the context of information security, is a psychological manipulation tactic used for fraudulent purposes. Attackers exploit human vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access to information, systems, or physical locations.
Key Points
- Psychological Manipulation: Social engineering leverages psychological weaknesses to deceive individuals.
- Common Goals: Obtain goods, services, bank transfers, physical or digital access, or confidential information.
- Techniques: Attackers use charisma, impersonation, or boldness to exploit trust, ignorance, and credulity.
Historical Context
In his 2002 book "The Art of Deception," hacker Kevin Mitnick popularized social engineering, highlighting how human vulnerabilities can be exploited to breach security barriers.
Impact on Organizations
- Employee Behavior: Employee actions significantly impact information security.
- Awareness Gap: Studies show employees often do not consider themselves part of the security framework and may ignore security rules.
Cognitive Biases
- Decision-Making: All social engineering techniques rely on cognitive biases that influence decision-making.
Examples of Social Engineering
- Physical Intrusion: An individual posts an official-looking notice changing the IT support number. Employees call this number for assistance, trusting the imposter who then requests login credentials or other sensitive information.