In the digital age, where security technologies are continually evolving to protect data and systems, cybercriminals have found an easier way: exploiting human behavior. Social engineering, a practice that manipulates individuals to gain unauthorized access or confidential information, has become the main threat to cybersecurity.
From fraudulent emails to sophisticated fictitious scenarios, these attacks have in common the exploitation of victims' trust and distraction. In this article, we will explore the nuances of social engineering, its impacts and best practices for mitigation.
What is social engineering?
Social engineering is an approach based on psychological manipulation, used by criminals to trick people into performing actions or revealing sensitive information. Instead of attacking technical flaws, criminals exploit human vulnerabilities.
Main characteristics of social engineering:
- Exploitation of trust: Criminals assume trustworthy identities, such as work colleagues or financial institutions.
- Use of emotion: Techniques that arouse fear, urgency or curiosity to induce quick responses.
- Universal accessibility: Anyone can be targeted, regardless of their technical knowledge.
The main techniques used
- Phishing: Emails or messages disguised as legitimate communications that trick the user into clicking on malicious links or downloading infected files.
- Vishing (voice phishing): Telephone scams, with criminals posing as support technicians or representatives of financial institutions.
- Smishing: SMS scams offering malicious links or requests for personal data.
- Tailgating: A physical method in which the criminal takes advantage of an employee's carelessness to access restricted areas.
Why are attacks using social engineering so effective?
Social engineering exploits emotional triggers and human behavior patterns such as overconfidence, fear and a sense of urgency.
These attacks depend more on human behavior than on technological tools, making their prevention an ongoing challenge.
Why is social engineering the biggest risk in cybersecurity?
The biggest weakness in any security system is the human factor. No matter how advanced the protection technologies are, they cannot prevent failures caused by mistaken human choices, such as clicking on malicious links or providing information to unauthorized people.
Attacks based on social engineering do not rely on exploiting technical vulnerabilities, but on manipulating behavior, which makes them extremely effective and difficult to prevent.
Impacts in numbers:
- Average cost of breaches: According to IBM's "Cost of a Data Breach 2024" report, breaches caused by social engineering are among the most expensive, with an average cost of $4.45 million per incident.
- Losses in the retail sector: Retail companies in Brazil faced, on average, losses of R$8.5 million due to fraudulent activities last year.
In addition, social engineering techniques are constantly evolving, keeping pace with advances in technology and changes in people's habits. Scammers are quick to adapt their methods, using tools such as artificial intelligence to create more convincing and personalized messages.
Real examples of violations:
- Target case (2013): Information from 40 million credit cards was stolen due to a breach caused by third-party manipulation.
- Attack on Twitter (2020): Employees were manipulated into providing access credentials, allowing high-profile accounts to be compromised.
Social engineering is considered the biggest risk in cybersecurity: it turns the end user, who is often inattentive or unprepared, into the gateway to attacks that can compromise sensitive data, cause financial losses and damage the reputation of companies and individuals.
Psychology behind scams: How criminals manipulate their victims
Social engineering is based on manipulating human emotions such as fear, greed, curiosity and urgency. For example, phishing messages often create a sense of panic, claiming that an account will be blocked or that a unique opportunity is about to expire. This emotional pressure causes victims to act quickly, without analyzing the legitimacy of the request.
Attackers often pose as authority figures, such as managers, IT technicians or bank representatives, to increase the credibility of the scam. People tend to trust figures who represent reputable institutions, even without verifying their authenticity. This blind trust allows scammers to obtain sensitive information or access protected systems with ease.
Many scams rely on techniques that create an atmosphere of comfort or familiarity for the victim. Repeating contacts, sending consistent messages or even imitating a familiar person's communication patterns are all ways of gaining the victim's trust. This technique is used especially in spear phishing attacks, where the scammer personalizes their approach based on specific information about the target.
Why do people fall?
The combination of stress, distraction and trust in systems can lead to automatic and vulnerable decisions. This is compounded by personalized messages that use public data from social networks to make attacks more convincing.
Signs of compromise: How to identify social engineering attacks
Identifying early signs that a system or individual may have been the target of social engineering is crucial to minimizing damage.
Anomalous account activity
- Unauthorized changes to login credentials or security settings.
- Login attempts at unusual times or places.
- Increase in the number of password reset notifications or failed login attempts.
Unexpected communication behaviors
- Emails, messages or calls requesting confidential information or credentials, often with a tone of urgency or threat.
- Unusual language in messages that are supposed to come from colleagues or superiors, such as grammatical errors or unusual tone.
- Requests to bypass normal security protocols, claiming an emergency situation.
Visible signs of phishing or smishing
- Messages with suspicious URLs or attachments that, when clicked, redirect to dubious login pages or forms.
- E-mails with similar but slightly altered domains (for example, @empresa-com.br instead of @empresa.com.br).
- Text messages that promise unrealistic offers or press for immediate responses.
Changes in policies or authorizations
- Sudden change in user privileges without apparent justification.
- Creation of new administrative accounts or changes to access profiles without approval.
The importance of proactive monitoring
Implementing early detection systems can help mitigate the damage. This includes regular audits, monitoring of network behavior and frequent security analyses.
How to prevent social engineering attacks?
Preventing social engineering attacks requires a multidimensional approach that combines technology, internal policies and awareness.
Education and training
Employee training is one of the most effective strategies for preventing social engineering attacks. Teaching employees to recognize techniques such as phishing, vishing and smishing is essential to reducing human vulnerabilities. Simulated attacks, such as fake phishing emails, help identify weaknesses and correct risky behavior.
Password strengthening
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is an indispensable tool for protecting against social engineering attacks. With it, even if a cybercriminal obtains a password, they won't be able to access the account without a second form of verification, such as an authentication code. In addition, encouraging the use of strong, unique passwords for each system and regularly changing these passwords also helps to make it more difficult for attackers to gain access.
Good communication practices
Encouraging employees to verify the identity of requesters before providing sensitive information is crucial. Avoiding clicking on links or downloading suspicious attachments and never giving in to the emotional pressure of messages that create a sense of urgency are best practices. Using security tools that scan URLs and attachments can help identify malicious content. Reinforcing calmness and caution when analyzing messages contributes to safer decisions.
Systems security
Keeping systems and software up to date is a simple but powerful measure to prevent vulnerabilities from being exploited. In addition, restricting access to critical data and systems to authorized persons only, based on the principle of least privilege, helps to limit the damage should a compromise occur. Monitoring the activities and access of sensitive accounts can help identify anomalous behavior before it becomes a bigger problem.
Post-incident monitoring
Adopting security solutions that use artificial intelligence and behavioral analysis to detect suspicious activity in real time is an important strategy. Having an incident response plan in place, with clear processes for identifying and containing attacks, minimizes the damage in the event of a compromise. Ongoing awareness campaigns for clients and partners are also essential, especially to prevent the company's name from being used in social engineering scams.
Social engineering as an ongoing challenge
Social engineering remains one of the most dangerous threats on the cybersecurity scene. Its impact goes beyond technological flaws, directly exploiting the human factor, which is often the weakest link in any protection system. With sophisticated and continually evolving techniques, cybercriminals are able to fool even well-informed individuals, using tactics based on psychology and manipulation. It is essential to recognize that, in an increasingly connected world, raising people's awareness is just as important as any technological measure.
Preventing these attacks requires an approach that combines advanced technology, well-defined security policies and continuous education. Regular training and simulations help build a culture of security, where employees become the first line of defense against fraud and manipulation. In parallel, the use of tools such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and real-time monitoring systems strengthen protection against malicious actions, even when human vulnerabilities are exploited.
Monitoring anomalous behavior and establishing communication channels to report incidents in an agile manner can significantly reduce the damage of an attack. In addition, educating clients and partners on how to identify social engineering attempts that use the organization's name is an essential measure for protecting corporate reputation.
On a personal level, individuals should adopt a more critical attitude when interacting with messages, emails and calls requesting information. The ability to identify signs of manipulation and the practice of verifying the authenticity of communications before taking action are essential skills in protecting against scams. With greater awareness, it is possible to reduce the risks, even in the face of increasingly creative tactics on the part of attackers.
Ultimately, combating social engineering requires a joint effort. Governments, companies and individuals need to work together to strengthen digital security. By applying robust technologies, strengthening security policies and promoting a culture of awareness, it will be possible to minimize the impacts of this growing threat. After all, in the fight against social engineering, knowledge and prevention are the most powerful weapons we have at our disposal.
