Often people get confused with the meaning of social engineering attack. Even I was not clear about it in the initial phases. Now, after gaining thorough knowledge, I find myself sufficient enough to aware you all about this attack.
In an effective and simple language, this is a technique used by cyber attackers to target unsuspecting users; so that they may send their private data to them and infect their own computers with various threats by opening infected sites.
Types of social engineering:
Baiting – It increases the greed of a person by making false promises in order to steal the personal data or to infect his system. To exemplify: suppose if a hacker leaves his infected USB with a name or label as confidential or any other at a place where a target may see it. What happens next, when the target person with full curiosity plugin that USB to his system, all the malicious threat may get injected into it.
Phishing – This type of attack is very common at this age. Phishing scams are actually the form of email or text message that target the minds of users by developing fear or curiosity in them. To cite an example: if anyone gets the email or message that need quick action like to secure your mail, change your password right now. And, attackers give the malicious link along with it so that when the victim opens the link or sign up with any given threatening website, he may be revealing all his privacy to them.
Spear phishing – This is the advanced version of phishing as an attacker chooses a particular individual or firm to attack. The team of hackers then creates messages that are linked to victims in any manner like job positions, contracts, etc which depict to be sent by the real term and not by the fake ones. As this kind of scam is for a specific person, thereby, it requires enough time and effort to carry out this attack. The success rate of spear phishing is much better.
Email hacking and contact spamming – We all are the part of this technological era where we remain in contact with all our near and dear ones through messages or calls. However, hackers find this as a great mode of ruining our systems by spreading a virus. For example: when someone known sends you an email, you will open it in no time. While this email might be by a fraudster who has stolen the account details of your friend and texting all his contacts to spread the virus.
There are many more types of social engineering attack which will be discussed in the next blog. Till then, just scan the above types in your brain.
To be continued…
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