• Home
  • Archive
  • Tools
  • Contact Us

The Customize Windows

Technology Journal

  • Cloud Computing
  • Computer
  • Digital Photography
  • Windows 7
  • Archive
  • Cloud Computing
  • Virtualization
  • Computer and Internet
  • Digital Photography
  • Android
  • Sysadmin
  • Electronics
  • Big Data
  • Virtualization
  • Downloads
  • Web Development
  • Apple
  • Android
Advertisement
You are here: Home » How Social Engineering Works

By Abhishek Ghosh December 25, 2022 6:59 pm Updated on December 25, 2022

How Social Engineering Works

Advertisement

Social engineering is using interpersonal influences intending to induce certain behaviours in people, for example, to induce them to disclose confidential information, to buy a product or to release funds.

The basic pattern of social engineering can be seen in fake phone calls: The so-called “social engineer” calls employees of a company and pretends to be a technician who needs confidential access data to complete important work. Already in advance, he has collected small scraps of information from publicly available sources or previous telephone calls about procedures, daily office talk and company hierarchy, which help him in interpersonal manipulation to pretend to be an insider of the company.

In addition, he confuses his technically uneducated victim with technical jargon, builds sympathy with small talk about seemingly common colleagues and exploits respect for authority by threatening to disturb his superior if the victim fails to cooperate. The social engineer may have already collected information in advance that a certain employee has actually requested technical assistance and is already expecting such a call. Automated social engineering, also known as scareware, uses special malware programs that frighten the user and are intended to motivate them to take certain actions.

Advertisement

---

Social engineers spy on their victim’s environment, fake identities, or exploit behaviours such as obedience to authority to obtain classified information or unpaid services. Social engineering is often used to penetrate a foreign computer system to view confidential data; this is also referred to as social hacking. An early form of social engineering was practised with phreaking in the 1980s. Phreakers called phone companies, pretending to be system administrators, and asking for new passwords, which they eventually used to establish free modem connections.

How Social Engineering Works

A well-known variant of social engineering is phishing. In this impersonal variant, fake e-mails with a trustworthy presentation are sent to the potential victims. The content of these messages may be, for example, that a certain service you use has a new URL and you should log in to it from now on if you want to use it. This fictitious page is, in layout and presentation, a copy of the original website of the service provider. This should help to lull the victim into safety. If you fall for it, criminals come into possession of the login name and password. Another possibility is that the victim is asked by a supposed administrator to send back the login details in response because there are allegedly technical problems. The basic pattern is similar to the fake phone call, because here, too, the social engineer usually pretends to be a technical employee who needs secret information for data verification or recovery. Unlike there, the attacker usually does not have much more than the recipient’s e-mail address, which makes the attack less personal and therefore less effective.

 

How to Prevent/Defense Social Engineering

 

The defence against social engineering is not easy to accomplish, since the attacker exploits positive human qualities: For example, the desire to help unbureaucratically in emergencies or to respond to help with counter help. Stirring up general mistrust would also harm effectiveness and trust cooperation in organizations. The most important contribution to the fight against social engineering is therefore made by the victim himself, who undoubtedly ensures the identity and justification of an addressee before taking further action. Even asking for the name and telephone number of the caller or the condition of a non-existent colleague can unmask poorly informed attackers. Politely asking for patience when a delicate request is presented so urgently should therefore be specifically trained. Even seemingly minor and useless information should not be disclosed to unknown persons, because it could be misused in subsequent contacts to eavesdrop on others or together with much other useless information in itself serve to delineate a larger fact. It is important to warn all potential further victims quickly; The first point of contact is the company’s security department, the contact address of the e-mail provider and fellow human beings and institutions whose information has been misused to pretend false facts. The following points should be noted:

  1. If the identity of the sender of an e-mail is not sure, you should always be suspicious.
  2. During calls, even seemingly unimportant data should not be carelessly passed on to strangers, as they can use the information obtained for further attacks.
  3. When replying to an email request, personal or financial information should under no circumstances be revealed, no matter who the message appears to come from.
  4. Do not use links from e-mails that require personal data as input. Instead, enter the URL itself in the browser.
  5. If there is any doubt about the authenticity of the sender, contact him again by phone to check the authenticity of the e-mail.

This Article Has Been Shared 543 Times!

Facebook Twitter Pinterest

Abhishek Ghosh

About Abhishek Ghosh

Abhishek Ghosh is a Businessman, Surgeon, Author and Blogger. You can keep touch with him on Twitter - @AbhishekCTRL.

Here’s what we’ve got for you which might like :

Articles Related to How Social Engineering Works

  • Blocking People in Facebook : Facts and Flaws

    Blocking People in Facebook is abused by many users as the blocked user never knows that another user has blocked but that user can actually see your posts.

  • Eight Tips for Secure Cloud

    Eight Tips for Secure Cloud are for are using the extremely useful services whose security are still regarded as uncertain. What users can do in this situation?

  • Command Line Web Browsing : Full Guide

    Command Line Web Browsing is of fun, useful and actually fast and safe. We can use Lynx, Links like Free Software on UNIX / OS X, Linux or Windows to surf.

  • Online Security and BigData

    Online Security and BigData becoming a concern as the massive cyber attacks to the internet banking portals has unleashed the inability to defend.

  • Cloud Computing and Security of Corporate Data

    Cloud Computing and Security of Corporate Data is for ensuring protection against data loss, a cloud user should be specified in the contract some points.

Additionally, performing a search on this website can help you. Also, we have YouTube Videos.

Take The Conversation Further ...

We'd love to know your thoughts on this article.
Meet the Author over on Twitter to join the conversation right now!

If you want to Advertise on our Article or want a Sponsored Article, you are invited to Contact us.

Contact Us

Subscribe To Our Free Newsletter

Get new posts by email:

Please Confirm the Subscription When Approval Email Will Arrive in Your Email Inbox as Second Step.

Search this website…

 

Popular Articles

Our Homepage is best place to find popular articles!

Here Are Some Good to Read Articles :

  • Cloud Computing Service Models
  • What is Cloud Computing?
  • Cloud Computing and Social Networks in Mobile Space
  • ARM Processor Architecture
  • What Camera Mode to Choose
  • Indispensable MySQL queries for custom fields in WordPress
  • Windows 7 Speech Recognition Scripting Related Tutorials

Social Networks

  • Pinterest (24.3K Followers)
  • Twitter (5.8k Followers)
  • Facebook (5.7k Followers)
  • LinkedIn (3.7k Followers)
  • YouTube (1.3k Followers)
  • GitHub (Repository)
  • GitHub (Gists)
Looking to publish sponsored article on our website?

Contact us

Recent Posts

  • What is Voice User Interface (VUI) January 31, 2023
  • Proxy Server: Design Pattern in Programming January 30, 2023
  • Cyberpunk Aesthetics: What’s in it Special January 27, 2023
  • How to Do Electrical Layout Plan for Adding Smart Switches January 26, 2023
  • What is a Data Mesh? January 25, 2023

About This Article

Cite this article as: Abhishek Ghosh, "How Social Engineering Works," in The Customize Windows, December 25, 2022, February 2, 2023, https://thecustomizewindows.com/2022/12/how-social-engineering-works/.

Source:The Customize Windows, JiMA.in

PC users can consult Corrine Chorney for Security.

Want to know more about us? Read Notability and Mentions & Our Setup.

Copyright © 2023 - The Customize Windows | dESIGNed by The Customize Windows

Copyright  · Privacy Policy  · Advertising Policy  · Terms of Service  · Refund Policy

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT