Social engineering is the practice of using psychological manipulation or deception to convince individuals to divulge sensitive information or to perform actions that can compromise the security of a system or network. Social engineering attacks can take many forms, including phishing emails, pretexting, baiting, and quid pro quo.
Phishing emails are one of the
most common forms of social engineering attacks. In a phishing attack, the
attacker sends an email that appears to be from a legitimate source, such as a
bank or an online retailer, and asks the recipient to provide sensitive
information, such as login credentials or credit card numbers. The email may
also contain a link to a fake website that looks like the legitimate site, but
is actually a trap to capture sensitive information.
Pretexting is another form of
social engineering that involves creating a fake scenario to trick the victim
into providing sensitive information or performing an action. For example, an
attacker might call an employee at a company and pretend to be from the IT
department, asking for the employee's login credentials in order to perform a
system update.
Baiting is a social
engineering attack that involves leaving a tempting item, such as a USB drive
or a laptop, in a public place where it is likely to be found. The attacker
hopes that the finder will connect the item to a computer system and
unwittingly install malware that can compromise the security of the system.
Quid pro quo is a social
engineering attack that involves promising something of value, such as a prize
or a free service, in exchange for sensitive information or access to a
computer system.
Social engineering attacks can
be highly effective, as they exploit human vulnerabilities rather than
technical vulnerabilities in a system or network. It is important to be aware
of the risks of social engineering and to take steps to protect sensitive
information and computer systems.
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