Five worthy reads is a regular column on five noteworthy items we’ve discovered while researching trending and timeless topics. In this edition, we’ll learn about social engineering, its types, its evolution, and how to avoid falling victim to a social engineering attack.

Congratulations! You have just been socially engineered

Kevin David Mitnick is considered one of the most famous social engineers among the IT community. Kevin is now a top cybersecurity speaker and a best-selling author. However, he was once on the FBI’s most wanted list for hacking 40 major corporations just for a challenge. His social engineering techniques paved way for more security-related companies to emerge.

The simple definition of social engineering is the act of exploiting human weaknesses to gain access to personal information and protected systems. The most common form of social engineering that exists today is phishing.

In fact, it would be a real surprise if you don’t have a phishing email sitting in your inbox right now. Phishing attacks have increased exponentially since the pandemic. Staying safe from these attacks is all about knowing how to spot them and knowing when to ignore or report them.

Social engineering has been prevalent for a while and many have fallen victim to it. Here are five recent articles that talk in depth about social engineering, its latest happenings, and its trends.

  1. What is social engineering?

Social engineering is an attack vector that relies heavily on human interaction and often involves manipulating people. In this article, you will get a basic understanding of what social engineering is, the types, and a few examples of it.

  1. The Human Cost of Social Engineering

Simulated attacks are technical exercises that emulate the tactics, techniques, and procedures of a real attacker, which help to understand how well your incident response plans hold out. This blog discusses how the human factor is crucial in a social engineering attack and its impacts.

  1. Social engineering cyberattacks and how they’re impacting businesses

The FBI’s 2020 Internet Crime Report shows that scammers stole more than $1.8 billion through business email compromise alone. In this article, the author explains how much social engineering attacks contribute to cybercrime and how they can have a direct and indirect impact on any business.

  1. 7 new social engineering tactics threat actors are using now

The pandemic has been a blessing for cybercriminals. Pandemic panic, desperation as income concerns grow, and worry over health and wellness made it easier for criminals to tap into fear. This article discusses the social engineering tactics that have been on the rise.

  1. 5 Ways to Outsmart a Social Engineer

All successful social engineering attacks have one thing in common: Someone believed something they shouldn’t have. Check out these five tips to stay ahead of social engineering attacks.

The evolution of cyberattacks is inevitable, because criminals are always finding new ways to execute a breach. But cybersecurity experts are trying their best to put themselves in the shoes of attackers and find ways to stop these attacks. However, all these measures will only be successful when we remove the factor of human ignorance.

To err is human, but at what cost? While it’s unlikely we’ll ever fully eliminate cyberattacks, with sufficient knowledge, training, and understanding, we can reduce the amount of successful social engineering attacks.