What Is And How To Avoid Social Engineering?

Social engineering is a term used to describe the act of tricking people into revealing private information or directing them subtly to take some action through the use of technology. It is a shrewd method to take advantage of the innocent human nature to exploit people. How to avoid social engineering schemes? – Let’s find some answers below.

So, cyber criminals extensively rely on this technique to back their malware attacks. In fact,  it can be said that most forms of malware attacks are incomplete without the aid of social engineering. Social engineering is a broad term and is not limited to one particular technique or style.

The 6 types of social engineering attacks are:

• Baiting – This involves enticing the target with a bait and waiting for the would-be victim to act upon it.
• Phishing – Grabbing information via email or text from the target without taking their consent.
• Email hacking and contact spamming – This involves the scammers pretending to be a trusted source to dig out confidential information.
• Pretexting – An attempt to con someone on the pretext of some heart wrenching story or the promise of imparting some kind of gain.
• Quid pro quo – Fraudsters making a promise to do something in return of an exchange.
• Vishing – Voiced phishing involves scammers making phone calls and trying to make the would-be victim divulge out important information.

How to avoid social engineering attacks?

1. Delete the requests for personal information like passwords, credit card CVV number, PINs, social security numbers, etc.
2. Don’t entertain requests asking for any kind of abrupt assistance, financial assistance, etc.
3. Always set the spam filters of your email application to avoid risky messages flooding into the inbox from time to time.
4. Always use antivirus, firewall, ad blockers, and VPN to ensure that all your devices are safe.
5. Keep yourself updated with the latest news of cyber threats and cybercrime evolving techniques day-by-day.
6. Think before you click on any link, website, attachment.
7. Always do some research regarding emails and websites before blindly opening them. Even if you do think that opening an email or website is open, then check to see if it belongs to a verified source.
8. Don’t download files from unknown sources or websites.
9. Don’t take the bait of free offers, lottery prizes, or anything that sounds too good to be true.
10. Another important way to act if you think you are facing a scam is to not respond immediately to a request and rather take time to think and then act.

Thus, don’t become a victim of social engineering attacks by being informed appropriately and spreading the awareness among others.