Social Engineering 101: How to Safeguard Your Business

Trust is the most important aspect of the scam. Social engineering takes advantage of this vulnerability in people to manipulate their target. By leveraging both psychology and data, social engineers exploit the target's faith in a person or organization to run their scam. The threat is growing rapidly: 2024 saw a 16% annual spike, with an overwhelming 85% of businesses reporting they experienced these attacks. The rise of AI is supercharging this trend, paving the way for attacks that are more frequent, quicker, and effective.  

What is Social Engineering?

Social engineering is a way for hackers to bypass security measures by exploiting the inherent trust, helpfulness, and vulnerabilities of individuals. By crafting believable scenarios and leveraging emotional triggers, these attackers skillfully trick their victims into divulging sensitive information, granting unauthorized access, or performing actions that compromise security, making it a potent and insidious threat to both individuals and organizations.

Pro-Tip: Dive deeper into the common social engineering tactics.

To protect your teams and organization from these attacks, it is important to understand how the schemes work, recognize the warning signs, and stay vigilant against the increasingly sophisticated tactics of social engineering.  

Identify the Warning Signs

Protecting yourself from social engineering attacks begins with recognizing the warning signs. Stay vigilant and watch for these common tactics:

Emotional Manipulation

Social engineers exploit strong emotions like fear, urgency, greed, and curiosity to bypass critical thinking. Be wary of communications that create a sense of panic: such as Your account will be suspended immediately! or promise unrealistic rewards.

They often leverage current events or trending topics to create a sense of urgency or relevance. This tactic is becoming increasingly sophisticated, by using deepfakes and AI-generated content to create believable emotional appeals.

If you are confronted by an urgent request or if something seems too good to be true, always verify! Make in-person contact with the direct people to validate the request.

Impersonation

‍Attackers often disguise themselves by spoofing known email addresses, phone numbers, and website URLs. Carefully examine sender information for subtle errors.  

Due to technological advancements, verifying sender identity is increasingly difficult. To confirm the sender’s identity, use information you have sourced outside of questionable communications.

Malicious Links and Websites

Phishing emails and messages often contain deceptive hyperlinks that lead to fake websites designed to steal credentials or install malware. Before clicking, hover over links to preview the URL (though this is not always reliable on mobile devices).

Attackers hide malicious links by using URL shortening services, making them appear safe. They also employ typosquatting by registering website names that are similar to legitimate ones, such as NetFriend.com vs NetFriends.com.

Errors

‍Watch for poor grammar and inconsistent formatting; these are red flags. While minor errors happen, reputable organizations maintain high communication standards. AI can now produce convincing text, so even error-free messages should be treated with caution.

Staying informed about these tactics and staying vigilant are essential for protecting yourself from social engineering attacks.

Cybersecurity Training

Cybersecurity training is essential for raising awareness of security risks and teaching employees how to protect themselves and the organization from threats. It should be tailored to the specific needs of the organization and its employees and should be delivered in a way that is engaging and easy to understand.

Tips to make your security training more effective:

• Make it interactive: Use quizzes, games, and other interactive activities to keep employees engaged.
• Provide real-world examples: Use real-world examples of security incidents to illustrate the importance of security training. Bonus if you can use industry specific examples!
• Make it fun: Use humor and other creative techniques to make the training more enjoyable.
• Provide ongoing reinforcement: Send out periodic reminders about security best practices.
• Simulated phishing: Realistic phishing simulations with clear instructions and feedback, that are measured for improvement.

By following these strategies, you can help to ensure that your security training is effective and that your employees are better equipped to protect themselves and the organization from security threats. Remember, it is not what you know, but how you use it!

Multi-factor Authentication

Should a social engineering attack lead to a compromised password, multifactor authentication (MFA) offers a vital extra layer of protection. MFA increases network security by requiring users to present several forms of verification, not only a password. This multi-step process creates a barrier for attackers attempting entry. According to Microsoft, MFA successfully blocks 99% of password-centric attacks.

By demanding verification from distinct categories, MFA substantially lowers the likelihood of successful cyber intrusions. For example, even possessing a stolen password, an attacker typically still requires the user's physical device or biometric data to authenticate. This requirement makes illicit access to sensitive data or critical systems much more difficult.

‍

Pro-Tip: Complex, unique passwords coupled with policies for regular password updates help mitigate unauthorized access risks.

Advanced Email Security

Protecting your email communication can stop social engineers before they hit your inbox. Here is how to significantly enhance your email security:

Intelligent Spam Filtering

‍Upgrade to advanced spam filters capable of more than basic keyword detection. These systems should scrutinize email content, evaluate sender credibility, and identify dubious patterns, automatically isolating potentially malicious messages. Encourage users to mark suspect emails – their input significantly enhances the filter's performance.

Strengthen Email Authentication

‍Leverage email authentication protocols to prevent spoofing and ensure message integrity:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Verify the sender's IP address to prevent email spoofing, ensuring emails originate from authorized servers.
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Guarantee message integrity through digital signatures, confirming that emails have not been tampered with in transit.
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance): Combines SPF and DKIM, defines policies for handling unauthenticated emails, and provides reporting to monitor email authentication success and failures.

Pro-Tip: Learn more about Email Authentication.

Your IT department or a Managed Services Provider (MSP) should handle the setup and management of these protocols. While initial configuration is not complex, proper calibration requires professional expertise.

Secure Email Data

‍Prevent data loss and protect sensitive information within your emails:

• End-to-End Encryption: Implement encryption for sensitive email communications to ensure that only the intended recipient can read the message, even if intercepted.
• Secure Email Gateways: Deploy secure email gateways that act as a first line of defense, filtering and scanning emails for malware and other threats before they reach user inboxes.

By implementing these comprehensive email security measures, you can create a safer and more secure communication environment, minimizing the risk of spam, phishing attacks, and data breaches.

Establish a Cybersecurity Culture

Tips to implement a security first mindset into all aspects of the business:

• Verification: Encourage questioning and verifying all information, including sender identities and URLs. Train on identifying deepfakes and AI-generated content.
• Empowerment: Create safe reporting channels for suspicious activity, including mobile options.
• Leadership: Demonstrate commitment through consistent messaging and integrating security into business decisions.
• Communication: Foster open discussions on risks and best practices, sharing lessons learned.
• Policies: Maintain up-to-date, clear, and accessible security policies.

Boost Your Cybersecurity With Net Friends

The damage social engineering can inflict is significant, but you do not have to face it alone. Net Friends, a trusted Managed Service Provider (MSP), empowers you with the knowledge and expertise to enhance your company's IT security and stay one step ahead of cybercriminals.

‍Contact us to discover how we can help you safeguard your business and promote further growth.

Follow Us on LinkedIn.

Originally Published: January 20, 2022
Revised & Updated: April 14, 2025