By What is social engineering?
The term “social engineering” refers to a deceptive method used by others to manipulate or trick individuals into disclosing confidential information. It often involves psychological manipulation, exploiting people’s trust, or taking advantage of human natural tendencies to reveal confidential information. This can lead to unauthorized access to personal data, financial information, computer devices, or accounts. Social engineering tactics can range from impersonation and phishing scams to pretexting and baiting. By understanding and recognizing the signs of social engineering attempts, individuals can better protect themselves and their information from potential threats in the digital world.
Impersonations
One malicious technique in social engineering includes capitalizing on human psychology to get individuals to provide confidential information or perform actions that may compromise the security of a company or individual. For instance, an attacker might impersonate a trusted individual, such as an employee from the IT department or a helpdesk representative, to gain the victim’s trust and coerce them into revealing login credentials, downloading malware, or compromising sensitive information.
Phishing Campaigns
Another deceptive tactic involves impersonating trusted entities, such as family members, phone companies, or other businesses, in order to illicitly obtain login credentials or account information.
Perpetrators may pose as family members in online communications with the intention of gaining the victim’s trust and coercing them into revealing sensitive details. Additionally, malicious actors may masquerade as legitimate phone companies or businesses, using various schemes to trick individuals into disclosing their login credentials, personal information, or financial data.
SIM Swapping, Call Forwarding, and Simultaneous Ring
Other forms of social engineering include SIM swapping which involves deceiving a mobile carrier to transfer a user’s mobile number to another SIM card controlled by the attacker. Card Forwarding can be used to redirect calls and messages from the victim’s number to another phone, enabling unauthorized access to sensitive information. Furthermore, a Simultaneous Ring method is used to trick the victim’s mobile carrier into having multiple phones reached when the victim’s number is dialed. This can lead to the interception of incoming calls, compromising the user’s privacy and security.
How to protect yourself
The FBI recommends the following precautions and tips to protect yourself from social engineering:
- Do not reply to calls, emails, or text messages that requests personal information, such as a password, PIN, or any One Time Password sent to your email or phone. If someone is claiming to be a company “representative” and contact you and asks you to provide personal information or to verify your account by providing a code, initiate a new call to that company by dialing the verified customer service line of the company.
- Ensure you have set a unique password for your voicemail on your mobile phone.
- Reach out to your mobile carrier to disable or block SIM card changes, Call Forwarding, and Simultaneous Ring.
- Regularly review your mobile phone provider’s account page to monitor account login history or any changes made.
- Avoid posting personal information online, such as mobile phone number, address, or other personal identifying information.
- Use “strong” passwords that are unique and random, that contain at least sixteen characters and are no more than 64 characters in length. Avoid reusing passwords and disable password “hints.”
Social engineering is a deceptive method used to gain unauthorized access to personal data, financial information, devices, or accounts. It involves tactics like impersonation, phishing, SIM swapping, call forwarding, and simultaneous ring. To protect yourself, avoid sharing personal information, use strong and unique passwords, and be cautious of requests for personal information from unknown sources.
