There are a lot of risks and dangers on the Internet what you should know to be able to defend yourself from everyone in an efficient way. That is why we have prepared this article so that avoid being a victim of these attacks.
Threat methods are called social engineering and it consists of obtaining information from people in different ways. If you want to know what it is about, you will have to continue reading.
We will explain to you what is the objective they pursue and what is sought by carrying out these actions. You cannot miss out on anything because you will also see tips to avoid being a victim of social engineering.
What is social engineering and what is this type of attack for?
It is a technique used to obtain information about one or more people through platforms and social networks that are available on the Internet.. In this way, through specialized programs or by deception, the name, address, email, access codes and any other type of private data of a person can be known.
There are different variants of the techniques that are applied to achieve the objective. Among the most common are:
- Phishing or identity theft. This method is based on confusing the user with an original application or website, in which they trust. A similar graphical interface is created so that the person incorporates their data and the fake user can know them in a simple way.
- Vishing or fake phone calls. This form of social engineering is very common in which a person pretends to be an employee or representative of a prestigious institution and asks the victim for private information and then steals this data.
- Baiting or infected devices. This way of obtaining information is used by placing a spyware or any other malicious program on a USB which is used by the victim on their computer.
Objectives of social engineering What is sought by carrying out these actions?
The goal of social engineering is to scam people by stealing private information for the untrustworthy person to get a economic benefit or of any other nature. These techniques are also used to extort people through the sexting or information that is not convenient for the victim to appear in public.
Risks and dangers of social engineering for the user What do I have to defend myself against?
In addition to phishing, sexting and the other methods that we show you in the previous paragraphs, you should be careful with:
- Backdoors or back door. These are social engineering programs that are used to install a spy file without the user noticing and that it cannot be detected quickly.
- Hijacking or hijacking of information. Unfortunately, this method is used as a virtual hijacking in which the attacker forces the victim to hand over money or other types of value for the data that was stolen by the attacker and for which they cannot be accessed in any other way.
- Spoofing or fake emails. This technique is used in social engineering to steal information by posing as a secure sender (such as a family member or friend) or as an employee who belongs to a prestigious company.
- Baiting or hook. The technique consists of leaving an infected device for the victim to connect to their computer and in this way download a file that will steal the saved information.
- Keylogger or recording of keyboard movements. It is a program that is installed without the user’s knowledge on a device and it records all the keystrokes made on the keyboard. In this way you can know the access codes to the platforms and applications.
Tips to avoid being a victim of social engineering campaigns
So that you are not a victim of a social engineering campaign, you should keep these tips in mind:
Do not disclose or share your passwords
Something that seems simple and logical many times is not, since there are a large number of people who share access codes with their friends and family to bank accounts, financial platforms and applications to social networks. You must avoid this situation and if for any reason you have to say what your password is, change it immediately after being used.
Pay attention to the security protocol
When you surf the internet you should always try to do it with HTTPS type protocols. You can see this in the URL address bar, at the beginning of it. If you see that you do not access this protocol and before you did it normally, avoid entering and communicate this situation to the owner of the website.
Avoid using public WiFi networks
You must bear in mind that when you access a wireless Internet network you become part of a network computing in which there are other computers and devices that are connected. These can enter, without you noticing, to your mobile and obtain the information they want.
Do not answer or give private data over the phone
As we mentioned before, a technique of social engineering is to trick people into a phone call by posing as employees and representatives of recognized companies. If this happens, you will have to cut communication and contact the company to report the scam.
Install a reliable antivirus
Antivirus detects and updates periodically on all kinds of malware that appear. Because of this it is important to permanently install and run the antivirus. This will also help you scan USB sticks before connecting them to the computer.
Don’t reply to suspicious emails
You should try to avoid answering the emails that come to your mailbox and that they invite you to click on a link or download a file. You must be very careful because there are programs that take the names of your contacts and pretend to be them.