Protecting Against Social Engineering Attacks: A Reflective Discussion
What involves tricking individuals into revealing their passwords or other valuable corporate information?
Social engineering is the practice of tricking individuals into revealing personal information like passwords. It is executed through psychological manipulation and is a significant threat to both individuals and organizations.
Final answer:Social engineering
Social engineering is the practice of tricking individuals into revealing personal information like passwords. It is executed through psychological manipulation and is a significant threat to both individuals and organizations.
The practice of tricking individuals into revealing their passwords or other valuable corporate information is known as social engineering. This deceitful strategy involves manipulating people into breaking normal security procedures. Hackers use various methods for this, such as pretexting, phishing, and baiting, capitalizing on human error rather than technological vulnerabilities.
For instance, they might impersonate an IT support member and ask for your login details to resolve a non-existent issue. Hackers steal data ranging from personal identifiable information to financial data, using it for purposes such as identity theft, selling the information on the dark web, or for direct financial gain.
It's a significant threat not only to individuals but also to organizations. Famous data breaches like the ones at Target and iCloud highlight the impacts of such attacks. Protecting against social engineering involves education, vigilance, and robust security protocols to reduce the risk of falling victim to such scams.