Social engineering is the study of human behavior and the factors that influence it, and is not itself a form of fraud. However, fraudsters use the development of social engineering to induce the victims themselves, thanks to manipulation, to give money, provide the necessary information or perform certain actions.
"Clicking on this or that link, downloading this or that file and then opening it. That is, these are all measures that encourage a person to take actions that he would not have done without manipulation," says Vitaly Kuzmenko, Deputy Head of the Department of Operational Support and Analysis of the Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine.
Also, experts single out the method of "reverse social engineering".
This type of attack is aimed at creating a situation in which the victim will be forced to turn to the attacker for help. For example, a fraudster can send a letter with phone numbers and contacts in advance, allegedly from the support service, after which, after some time, he can provoke problems in the victim's computer and simply wait for her call.
How to counter criminals who use social engineering methods in the network:
• be critical of any offers from strangers, especially tempting ones;
• do not be afraid and do not rush to do what you are asked, or even more so required of you;
• be vigilant with unknown links and attachments - do not open them unnecessarily;
• do not work with personal data in the presence of strangers, especially card details (number, expiration date, CVV code, pin code), online banking login passwords or any other passwords and codes sent in SMS messages ;
• install and update an antivirus;
• use different passwords to access personal and corporate mail, social networks and banking applications.
Even such a minimal set of tips and rules will significantly increase your cyber security!
For more information about what social engineering is, see the video.
Cyber Police Department
National Police of Ukraine
