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Social engineering is a technique hackers use to gain access to information they wouldn’t be able to access otherwise. These hackers manipulate people into giving up confidential information by pretending to be someone trustworthy, such as an HR representative or another employee. They do this by using personal details about you, your colleagues, or the company to get you to give them private information. Social engineering works because most people trust other people— especially those who seem like they belong somewhere. Sadly, social engineering remains one of the most successful hacker attacks. Let’s see why and how you can protect yourself from the scammers.

What Is Social Engineering and How Does it Work?

Social engineering is the use of psychological tricks to manipulate people into giving up confidential information. A scammer might pretend to be from IT and say the company’s network is down to get you to provide login credentials to your computer or the company’s network. Or, a scammer could pose as a vendor who needs you to wire them money for a product or service that doesn’t exist. The scammers use personal details about you, your colleagues, or the company to get you to give them private information. For example, a scammer might call and say she’s an HR representative and ask you to verify a new hire’s information. Or, a scammer might email you and say there’s a problem with your W-2 form and ask you to verify your tax information.

Why is Social Engineering So Successful?

Social engineering is so successful because people are naturally helpful. We want to be the good guy and help out whoever asks for it. Unfortunately, it just so happens that these scammers are experts in taking advantage of people’s kindness. They know how to ask for your help without coming off as creepy or suspicious. While it’s great to be helpful, you need to be careful how you show it. That’s because if you give a scammer confidential information, they can use it to cause real damage to you or other people. For example, if you give a scammer your login credentials, they can use it to log into your computer and access your information.

Don’t Use the Same password for everything

While it’s impossible to remember all of your different passwords, you shouldn’t use the same password for everything. If one of your accounts gets hacked, the hacker could easily access all of your other accounts. Because social engineers can pretend to be from almost any department or company, you can’t assume your normal login and password are enough to protect your account. Say you receive an email from your company’s HR department about your W-2 form. An impostor might send you an email with a link to a fake site where you’re asked for your W-2 information. If you have the same password for both accounts, one hacked account gives the hacker access to all of your accounts.

Be Careful When You Give Out Your Company’s Info

You may think you’re being helpful when you verify an impostor’s information. Unfortunately, you could be giving away confidential information that puts you and your company at risk. For example, the scammers could pretend to be a vendor you’re working with. They could ask you to confirm the company’s name and other details. Once you confirm their details, the scammers now know exactly how your company operates. They can use this information to launch another attack in the future.

Bottom line

The best way to protect yourself from social engineering is to be aware of what’s happening. You can’t prevent scams if you don’t know about them. Plus, it’s easy to avoid falling for a scam if you know what to look for. If you get an email or phone call from someone asking for your confidential information, question it. Don’t give out information unless you’re 100% sure it’s legitimate. If you get a call or email from someone asking for your information, don’t act quickly. Think about how they got your information. If you can’t figure it out, don’t give out any information. For example, a scammer might say he’s from your accounting department and wants to confirm your W-2 form. The scammer might say he accidentally sent it to your email instead of your accounting department. Don’t fall for it. Your accountant would never contact you directly. Plus, they’d know the correct email address.