The digital landscape is overrun with cybercriminals who don’t take days off. Their increasingly sophisticated tactics are evolving to exploit every vulnerability in business systems. Protecting your organization’s digital footprint is not a choice but a necessity. Below, we discuss how cybercriminals use social engineering to infiltrate companies and the steps you can take to mitigate that risk.
What is social engineering?
In terms of cybersecurity, social engineering refers to the manipulation and exploitation of individuals or companies to reveal sensitive information. This psychological technique is used to take advantage of employees and customers in order to gain access to private data. When it comes to the ins and outs of social engineering, here are the three common tactics to watch out for.
Hook, line and sinker: phishing scams
Phishing is a cyberthreat that casts a wide net, and the bait is frequently a cleverly disguised email. These messages appear to be from a trusted source, like your place of employment, and often trick employees into divulging confidential information such as credit card details or usernames and passwords. There is typically a sense of urgency in the communication that causes the recipient to act out of curiosity or panic which can lead to detrimental mistakes.
Malicious intent: malware
Malicious software, a.k.a. malware, is a broad term that refers to software designed to harm, disrupt or gain unauthorized access to computer systems. Cybercriminals distribute viruses, trojans and worms in various ways, including email attachments, infected website links and USB drives. Once a user unknowingly installs the infected content, malware disrupts operating systems leaving your business and its data vulnerable.
Digital traffic jam: DoS attack
You clicked on that fishy-looking email and got a virus. What else could go wrong? You could lose access to your entire machine. That happens when you’re faced with a denial-of-service (DoS) or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. DoS is a single attack on a system, whereas DDoS is multiple attackers flooding the same system. These types of attacks cause increased traffic which can overwhelm a system and cause major outages affecting many end users.
No business wants to be compromised and lose time, money and customers. It’s imperative your computer systems are set up with protection. ProTech’s cybersecurity services can help your business implement robust security plans that detect and notify your team of potential threats. Our expert engineers develop a layered approach tailored to your company’s needs that keeps your system up-to-date, sensitive data protected and your staff trained to recognize traps before they fall victim to the scams.
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