15 Sep 90% of Breaches are Due to Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks
When a hacker or malware penetrates your company’s defenses, the first question should always be how did it happen? Most of the time, it was due to social engineering or phishing attacks.
Let’s breakdown what a social engineering and phishing attacks are.
Social engineering is the art of manipulating people, so they give up confidential information. The types of information these criminals are seeking can vary, but when individuals are targeted the criminals are usually trying to trick you into giving them your passwords, bank information, or to secretly install malicious software that will access your data on your computer.
A phishing attack is another form of social engineering. This type of attack happens when an attacker, masquerading as a trusted entity, dupes a victim into opening an email, instant message, or text message. The recipient is then tricked into clicking a malicious link, which can lead to the installation of malware, the freezing of the system as part of a ransomware attack, or the revealing of sensitive information.
These types of attacks are easier to exploit your natural behaviors than it is to discover ways to hack your software. For example, it is much easier to fool someone into giving you their password than it is for you to try hacking their password.
How can you protect yourself against social engineering and phishing attacks? The easiest and most effective way is with Security Awareness Training. It allows your employees to stay up to date on the latest types of threat vectors through the education provided by security awareness training. Want to learn more about Security Awareness Training? Contact our team to get your free security assessment and phishing test!)