Social engineering is one of the most difficult types of phishing to detect. This kind of hacking can take place over several months of gaining your trust or masquerading as someone you already know. They can use fake emails to pose as your boss, your family, or trustworthy companies to trick you into giving out the information they want.
How do Hackers Use Social Engineering?
They will use the information they have gathered about you or your company to fool you into thinking you can share even more information with them. This can eventually lead to funds transferred to their account, shared passwords, or even virus downloads.
Social engineering is a long con designed to lull you into a false sense of security. This type of hacker isn’t afraid of waiting. They might hack your email and wait for months just watching. They might intercept an email from a coworker and use it months later to fool you. They can also offer real IT help in order to gain remote access to your computer to use later. There are so many ways social engineering can fool the unsuspecting person.
How to Check if an Email has Been Social Engineered
To avoid hackers using social engineering, hover over the email address of every email you receive. It takes 2 seconds and can help you stay secure. Also, make sure you’re on the lookout for spelling and grammar mistakes or even awkward wording. Lastly, always verbally confirm financial transactions with the person you’re working with. Intercepted emails may be as simple as a sudden reply with a new routing number. If you confirm with the person you’re supposed to transfer to verbally, they’ll be able to tell you that the new number is not right.
If you would like more information or official employee phishing training, call 512-869-1155 or book an appointment here.