04 Oct Managed IT Services San Diego: About Social Engineering

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Social engineering is a popular method for black hat hackers to launch their cyberattacks. Still, a Managed IT Services San Diego can keep the cyber threat at bay, and the information technology professionals from the IT support provider can make sure to protect your cybersecurity and keep your data safe from breaches. Social engineering is an extremely dangerous cyberattack because it targets the most susceptible, vulnerable, and malleable targets, which are humans. Indeed, social engineering focuses on tricking the recipients, primarily employees who are fooled into giving away their personal information or the data regarding the company, such as bank details, email account log-in, and more. Social engineering attacks usually involve the following: baiting, phishing, piggybacking or tailgating, scareware security software, malvertising, honey trap, drive-by downloads, spear phishing, whaling, vishing, scareware, diversion theft, pretexting, and pharming. The cyber-world is getting scary, especially with the social engineering cyber threat. And to prevent the cybercriminals from successfully using social engineering on your employees, hire the best IT team to perform a Managed IT Services San Diego. 

Why Social Engineering Is Mostly Successful 

Black hat hackers are using social engineering to breach the data of their target victims. And most of the time, it works because people in nature are vulnerable, and employees usually do not double-check what kind of email they receive. They are not trained enough to identify the tricks of the black hat hackers, so they may easily give in to the manipulation of the cyber criminals. 

How Social Engineering Works

Social engineering is pretty simple, if you think about it. The black hat hackers design compelling messages to fool the recipients into giving away what the cybercriminals need from them. When you hire the best IT team to manage your cybersecurity though a Managed IT Services San Diego, they can educate your people on the four stages of social engineering, which are:

Discovery and research

The black hat hackers begin their attack by searching for their target companies and identifying the more vulnerable employees for the trickery. In this stage, the cybercriminals determine the work, financial status, and everything that can help the black hat hackers breach the data of their target companies. By researching your employees, the cybercriminals will have more information on how to create their messages that will make the recipients lower their guard.

Trickery and Hooking Victims

The second phase of the social engineering attack is designing the kind of deception that will get the recipients hook and subtly force them to give out their personal credentials and information, as well as the information regarding your company.

Cyberattack

The attack begins now that the black hat hackers have lured their victims into giving them what they want. At this phase, the users usually click on the malicious link of the message or download a file attachment and other files. Without the employees knowing, the cyberattack is already happening, and the data starts to be exploited. That is why it is highly significant to hire the best IT support provider to perform an efficient Managed IT Services in San Diego.

Retreat 

Once the black hat hackers are done with their cyberattacks, they retreat from the company’s cybersecurity, network, and systems, and they barely leave a trace of their cybercrime. 

Most Common Social Engineering Types

Now, in this section, let us explore the most common social engineering attacks.

Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks are used by the black hat hackers in order to fish for whatever information they need to breach the data of the target victims. This kind of social engineering cyberattack usually relies on phishing emails, where there is typically a request from a seemingly legit source regarding the confidential information of your company. The three primary purposes of phishing are for the users to click on the link, for the users to download the file attachment, and for the users to enter passwords or other log-in information. Thankfully, your company can rely on information technology professionals in a Managed IT Services San Diego. 

Spear Phishing

Spear phishing is more detailed and more specific compared to regular phishing attacks. This means that with spear phishing, the black hat hackers know the name and credentials of your employees, and they use that to trick the recipients into answering all the sensitive questions on the messages. 

Whaling

Whaling is similar to phishing emails, but this kind of cyberattack targets more prominent people in the company, like the CEOs, presidents, and people in charge. In a nutshell, whaling targets the big fish in the industry. 

Baiting

Baiting is an alluring social engineering attack that baits the users into giving them what they need in terms of log-in credentials and performing tasks that release the malicious software into the target computers. Baiting usually works by offering something in return for the information needed by the black hat hackers. And to make sure that your employees will not fall victim to the baiting cyberattack, you need to hire a trustworthy team of information technology professionals to deliver Managed IT Services in San Diego. 

Pretexting

Pretexting happens when the black hat hackers pretend to be someone else in order to fool the target victims. This kind of social engineering usually occurs due to an inside job. This means that someone inside the company is using their authority to gain favorable information about the employees or the sensitive information of the company. 

Scareware

Scareware is also referred to as rogue scanner software, deception software, and fraud. The primary purpose of the scareware cyberattack is to install fear in the hearts of the target victims so that they would give away their company or personal information to the black hat hackers. 

Watering Hole Cyberattacks

 A watering hole cyberattack happens when the website that you usually go to is infected by the black hat hackers with malicious software. Once you come to the site, the malware is downloaded into the computers. Fortunately, a Managed IT Services San Diego can stop or prevent this kind of social engineering.