Social engineering is defined as hacking humans through manipulative interactions. People are tricked into willingly giving out sensitive information to hackers and people with malicious intent. Social engineering has become a major aspect of hacking as of late, and its impact on cyber security cannot be understated.
Frank Abignale is the most famous social engineer in the world. Abignale became increasingly famous when his life was portrayed in Steven Spielberg’s film Catch Me If You Can. Abignale is a testament to how much information and money a good social engineer can extract from companies and organizations. He was eventually arrested at age 23, having stolen tens of millions of dollars.
When cyber security is discussed on the ERMProtect blog, you’ll notice that the most common topics stress the importance of ‘training employees’ and ‘penetration testing’. These are standard best practices and necessary cyberattack deterrents, all of which would have stopped someone like Frank Abignale almost instantly.
Some facts about Social Engineering and cyber security:
- There are 107 trillion emails sent every year, 90% of those are phishing and spam emails. Phishing is one of the most famous forms of social engineering and cyber security threats.
- The average business targeted for successful social engineering loses $42,546 per account.
- The most effective form of protection against social engineering and cyberattacks is penetration testing.
Social engineering poses a big threat in regards to untrained and naive employees handling sensitive data in any way. It’s easy to assume that cybersecurity only refers to the protection of data from electronic sources, but the social aspect is just as important. Social engineering cyber-attacks have changed the way we view security for the better. Make sure you are protected and call your local cybersecurity firm today for any questions or guidance on securing your company and/or network.
