12 Types of Social Engineering Attacks
12 Types of social engineering attacks
A social engineering attack is a tactic that, at its core, lies to a user by creating a false narrative that exploits the victim’s credulity, greed, curiosity or any other very human characteristics. The end result is that the victim willingly gives away private information to the attacker — whether personal (e.g., name, email), financial (e.g., credit card number, crypto wallet), or by inadvertently installing malware/backdoors on their own system.
As cybercriminals develop increasingly sophisticated tactics to deceive individuals and employees, organizations must stay proactive. In this article, we’ll explore twelve of the most common social engineering attacks:
Phishing
Phishing is a type of cyber-attack involving sending generic emails by cybercriminals pretending to be legitimate. These emails contain fraudulent links to steal user's private information. Phishing attacks are most effective when users are unaware this is happening.
A phishing attack is the action or set of actions a hacker undertakes to exploit you. Email phishing schemes are often easy to spot due to grammar and/or spelling errors in the emails. Attackers are becoming technically sophisticated, however, and new attacks focus on exploiting human emotions to get you to engage, including fear, outrage, and curiosity.
Spear Phishing
Spear Phishing stands out as one of the most dangerous and targeted forms of cyber-attacks. Unlike regular phishing attacks, which cast a wide net in hopes of catching unsuspecting victims, spear phishing is a highly personalized and targeted form of a phishing attack that targets a user rather than a network. Attackers use detailed information about their victims to craft convincing messages that trick them into divulging sensitive information or clicking on malicious links.
Baiting
This attack uses a false promise to entice a victim via greed or interest. Victims are lured into a trap that compromises their sensitive information or infects their devices. One example would be to leave a malware-infected flash drive in a public place. The victim may be interested in its contents and insert it into their device unwittingly installing the malware.
Whaling
Whaling is a specialized type of phishing attack that targets C-level or High-Profile individuals within organizations, such as executives, managers, and other senior leaders. The term "whaling" reflects the attack’s focus on the "big fish", who hold significant authority and access to sensitive information. Unlike traditional phishing attacks that can target the average person and rely on volume, whaling is a highly targeted attack, which uses detailed information about the victim to craft convincing and personalized emails.
Tailgating
A tailgating attack in cyber security is a physical security breach where an unauthorized person gains entry into a restricted area by closely following an authorized individual. This attack relies on human error rather than hacking or technical vulnerabilities. Unlike technical cyber threats such as malware and phishing, tailgating exploits human behavior and lapses in physical security protocols to infiltrate organizations undetected. Organizations that fail to implement strong physical security controls are at high risk of breaches that could lead to other kinds of attacks, such as malware or phishing attacks.
Smishing
Smishing attacks use short message service or SMS, more commonly known as text messages. This form of attack has become increasingly popular due to the fact that people are more likely to trust a message that comes in through a messaging app on their phone than from a message delivered via email.
AI-Based Scams
AI-based scams leverage artificial intelligence technology to deceive victims. Here are the common types:
AI-Text Scam: Deceptive text messages generated by AI to phish information or spread malware.
AI-Image Scam: Fake images created using AI to manipulate and deceive individuals.
AI-Voice Scam: Fraudulent voice messages generated by AI to impersonate trusted entities and trick victims.
- AI-Video Scam: Manipulated videos created using AI, known as deepfakes, used for spreading misinformation or targeting individuals.
Vishing
Vishing which is short for "voice phishing," is a type of social engineering attack that uses telephone calls or voice-based communication to trick someone into giving up sensitive information, such as bank account details, login credentials, or personal identification information (PII). While phishing emails are more commonly recognized, vishing attacks are on the rise, often flying under the radar. Unlike other cyberattacks that target digital channels, vishing manipulates human trust through direct voice interaction, making it a powerful tool for scammers.
Scareware
Scareware involves victims being scared with false alarms and threats. Users might be deceived into thinking that their system is infected with malware. They then install the suggested software fix — but this software may be the malware itself, for example, a virus or spyware. Common examples are pop-up banners appearing in your browser, displaying text like “Your computer may be infected.” It will offer to install the fix or will direct you to a malicious website.
Pretexting
Pretexting is a social engineering tactic where attackers create a false scenario to trick victims into revealing sensitive information. Unlike phishing, it relies on building trust rather than fear.
Cybercriminals may impersonate authority figures, colleagues, or vendors to obtain login credentials, financial data, or system access. Organizations can prevent pretexting attacks by training employees to verify identities, question unusual requests, and follow strict security protocols.
Quishing
Quishing, a term derived from “QR code phishing”, is a type of cyberattack where cybercriminals use malicious QR codes to trick people into visiting fake websites or downloading malware onto their devices. These malicious QR codes can be embedded in emails, advertisements, flyer’s and even simply put on top of pre-existing QR codes to target an unsuspecting user. The purpose of this attack is to steal sensitive information such as passwords, financial data or to infect a user’s device with malware that can lead to further exploitation in the future.
Business Email Compromise (BEC)
Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a type of scam targeting companies who conduct wire transfers and have suppliers abroad. Corporate or publicly available email accounts of executives or high-level employees related to finance or involved with wire transfer payments are either spoofed or compromised through keyloggers or phishing attacks to do fraudulent transfers, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.
How to prevent Social Engineering Attacks?
The biggest armor one can use against social engineering tactics employed by online crooks nowadays is to be well-informed of the many ways a cybercriminal could take advantage of your social media vulnerability. More than the usual consequences of falling prey to spamming, phishing attacks, and malware infections, the challenge posed by cybercriminals is having a firm grasp and understanding on keeping your data private.
Aside from keeping an eye out for the above warning signs, the following are good best practices to follow:
Keep your operating system and cybersecurity software updated.
Use multifactor authentication and/or a Password Manager.
Don’t open emails and attachments from unknown sources.
Set your spam filters too high.
Delete and ignore any requests for financial information or passwords.
If you suspect something during an interaction, be calm and take things slowly.
Do your research when it comes to websites, companies, and individuals.
Be careful about what you share on social media — utilize your privacy settings.
If you are an employee of a company, make sure that you know the security policies.