Describe Social Engineering? How Cybercriminals Trick

21 February 2025

Cybercriminals don’t depend on older techniques such as hacking or malware anymore. Instead, they have found another weak aspect to exploit, that is, human psychology, popularly known as social engineering. Social engineering includes several types of attacks, such as phishing, that focus on tricking users by manipulating their emotions. Businesses can also be targeted by these attacks, not just individuals. With that in mind, let's take a look at what social engineering is, the common tricks these scammers use, and how you can protect yourself from them.

Describe Social Engineering: How Scammers Manipulate Businesses and Users

571 million pounds! During the first half of the year 2024, as per the reports, cybercriminals stole around this much of money through card payment fraud in the UK. However, a large portion of this fraud is actually related to methods that are used in social engineering.

Despite all the efforts put by the UK government to deal with these issues, such incidents show how businesses and users are likely to fall victim to growing social engineering problems. In particular for businesses, social engineering can lead to data breaches, financial loss, or unauthorised access to sensitive systems.

Most commonly, these include fraudulent emails who appear as trusted contacts or urgent requests designed to create panic. Businesses are likely to fall for fake emails, especially if they are from executives or company seniors, leading to unauthorised transactions. Moving further, users are often tricked through fake websites, asking to submit their private details, like identity cards or resumes.

What is Social Engeneering

Social engineering is one of the common techniques where cybercriminals use it to manipulate businesses or individuals. However, they can use different tricks to seek personal information, especially passwords or financial details. Instead of hacking systems directly, attackers exploit human psychology with the help of tactics like phishing emails, pretexting, baiting, and impersonation.

Understanding Common Techniques in Social Engineering Cyber Security

Cybercriminals usually first gather private details about their victims, such as account numbers or resumes. This is a key aspect of social engineering in cyber security, where attackers use deception to manipulate individuals into divulging sensitive information.

What Are Social Engineering Attacks and Their Implications

Unlike hackers who try to break into systems, however, social engineering works by tricking people and their emotions. Cybercriminals here use human psychology as their tool. Unlike traditional hacking methods, though, they try to exploit trust, fear, or urgency. This is comparatively an easier method for them to steal sensitive data or access systems without having to put in much effort.

Hard to doubt, the consequences can be quite severe. From financial loss to breaches in data, businesses or individuals may face many issues. In addition, such mistakes can also lead them to other major security threats, like clicking a fake email or sharing login details.

Key Measures: Fighting Against Cybercriminals

While cybercriminals continue to find new methods to trick organisations as well as individuals, several measures can be taken to stay protected from such social engineering attacks.

Using Multi-Factor Authentication

Switching to multi-factor authentication from traditional password-based security is what you need to do first. This can help enhance your system’s overall protection. Plus, it can help prevent unauthorised access, giving an additional layer of protection for organisations.

Installing Comprehensive Security Software

If you can get internet security software, though, it gets easier to safeguard your system from malware that comes through social engineering attacks. Certain high-quality tools, including antivirus solutions, can help prevent breaches too, allowing you to know how the attack happened.

Verifying Requests for Crucial Information

Moreover, it’d be better to make it mandatory to verify access requests, especially for sensitive information or those that come from unfamiliar or unexpected sources. As you always stay cautious and check thoroughly such suspicious requests, protecting your data from potential threats can become easier.

Making Comprehensive Incident Response Plans

You also need to make a proper response plan. But it must include key areas and be effective enough to help with faster recovery. In addition to response plans, you can consider third parties. Like an IT support agency, for example, especially if budget is not a concern for you, helping seek quick guidance and suitable services to tackle these issues effectively.

Keeping Systems and Devices Up-to-date

When it comes to shielding against cyberattacks, one of the most overlooked yet important areas is system and device updates. Keeping your systems and software updated with the latest security patches is essential. In particular, if you expect to stay one step ahead of cyber threats, focusing on this aspect is equally vital.

Conclusion

No doubt, social engineering is a quite powerful tool for the cybercriminals and scammers. But by understanding how their tactics work, like phishing, pretexting, and baiting, it is possible to guard ourselves against them. Above all, being aware of their techniques, avoiding sharing personal information with such unknown senders, and focusing on strong security practices is essential to prevent these scammers.