​How to Prevent Social Engineering Attacks

​When most people think about cybersecurity risks, they imagine hackers getting into their system. However, some cybersecurity risks are much more manipulative and involve fooling regular people into giving away security details such as usernames and passwords. Social engineering is growing, and as a result, every employee in a business should be mindful of their own and each other’s activity in order to prevent this type of attack. Here are some of the main ways to prevent social engineering. 

​Think Before Clicking

Phishing attacks are a common form of social engineering, where you will receive an email or message asking you to log in or provide sensitive information. In most cases, attackers will employ a sense of urgency that often leads to users acting first and thinking later. If you receive an email or message that appears to be highly urgent asking you to act quickly, take a moment to make sure that the source is credible before you do anything, such as getting in touch with the apparent source to ensure that the message was actually from them. 

​Outsource IT

​If you run a business, outsourcing IT to a professional support company is the best way to prevent against all manner of cybersecurity risks and attacks, including social engineering. Along with monitoring your IT systems on a regular basis, a professional IT company can provide education and advice to you and your employees to ensure that you are aware of the signs to look out for. 

​Be Wary of Offers or Requests for Help

​Social engineers may often request help or offer to help you in order to get personal information from you, for example, by posing as tech support in an email. If you have not requested any assistance from the email sender, it’s wise to consider any offers like this as spam. Conduct independent research into the sender before you decide whether or not to reply. 

​Secure Your Devices

All company devices should be as secure as possible, with anti-virus and security software installed, maintained, and kept up-to-date on a regular basis. Consider anti-phishing software for additional protection against social engineering. Wherever possible, automatic updates should be set on all security and anti-virus software, and employees should be thoroughly trained in how to use it. Consider securing data even further by using a VPN, particularly if employees are working from home or accessing company data on public Wi-Fi networks.

Social engineering is a manipulative form of cybercrime that is used to fool people into handing sensitive information over to hackers. Since it isn’t always easy to spot, awareness is the first step to preventing an attack.