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What is social engineering?

Social engineering is one of the most prevalent forms of attacks organisations face today. Social engineers target and manipulate individuals into revealing confidential information, both online and in person. 

Forms of social engineering can include:

  • Targeted messages
  • Entering a premise without authorisation
  • Impersonating security
  • And more 

There’s a lot more to it than you might realise, as social engineering targets and exploits human vulnerabilities. Even high-level security systems can fail if a well-worded email tricks an employee into revealing company information to the wrong person. The right word in the wrong place, and your company can be exposed to financial exploitation and damaged brand reputation.

Are your employees prepared for social engineering attacks?

How do attackers use social engineering?

The human element is an inevitable part of any business, but it’s also the area most vulnerable to exploitation. A locked server in an underground bunker is only safe until the wrong person gets hold of the key. Social engineering exploits the human element to gain access to even the most protected systems.

Social engineering is a broad term that covers a variety of deceptions used to trick people into revealing confidential information. And it isn’t something your organisation can overlook. Social Engineering plays a part in roughly 98% of all cyberattacks.

Methods of social engineering include:

  • Vishing
  • Phishing
  • And smishing, where an employee is contacted remotely.

Phone calls, emails, and SMS text messages can all be used to solicit confidential information from employees. Phishing email scams are so prevalent, that they now account for almost 30% of all emails. 

Other methods include elicitation, tailgating, and baiting. Requiring an in-person element, these methods take advantage of human carelessness to access confidential information. Even those in authority aren’t immune to social engineering. However, with testing and preparation, the threat of social engineering can be reduced.

How can our social engineering services help?

Social engineering targets the human element, and we can ensure your employees are prepared for potential attacks. By using Penetration testing and physical security testing, we can identify the base level of knowledge in your employees, and work from there to improve safety.

Employees have to be alert and aware of the risks posed by social engineering, or they become a weakness. With our invited assessment, we can identify how employees react to phishing and other attacks, via an audit-style review of policies and processes

Our full health check and lite health check services identify gaps in security. By employing both black box (unauthenticated) and white box (authenticated) methods, we are able to gain an understanding of the vulnerabilities in the company. Combined with penetration testing ensuring your security system works as it’s meant to, the threat of social engineering is reduced.

Social engineering exposes that it’s often easier to trick an employee than it is to attack a system. Our remote exploration performs social engineering tasks to see the realities of your workspace’s vulnerabilities and help you put them right.

Our social engineering services

Social engineering poses a real threat to organisations by exploiting the human element. We can help you discover weaknesses, and protect against social engineering attacks. Contact Us today for a safer organisation, inside and out.

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