Social engineering attacks are on the upswing. In particular, these attacks are becoming more common against small and medium-sized businesses. Social engineering attacks are increasing in frequency as well as complexity. It is becoming surprisingly easy to persuade employees to turn over sensitive data. If your business does not perform its due diligence, someone in your group will eventually fall prey to such a social engineering attack. Below, IT services experts in New Jersey expose the different approaches to fooling employees and how your group can avoid a devastating social engineering attack:
The Basics of Social Engineering Attacks
Social engineering attacks are usually centered on a form of manipulation. Target employees or even regular consumers are pinpointed and fooled into turning over information that is sensitive and/or valuable. Social engineering is usually performed through email. A supposedly urgent message is transmitted to make the target feel anxious, fearful or another emotion. This emotional state makes it that much easier to convince the target to turn over valuable data, click a link that leads to a virus or open a file that has tracking software. The fact that social engineering attacks are reliant upon human beings' mistakes makes this approach to digital attacks that much more difficult to thwart. There is no software program or other digital solution to prevent human error.
People are Often the Weakest Link in the Context of Digital Security
You can add all the anti-virus programs under the sun, scan your system for viruses every single day and still end up with a hacker tracking your company's activity. The weak link often proves to be human beings who fall prey to social engineering attacks. Fortunately, an IT services provider in New Jersey can help you prevent such improper access to your system. IT experts can educate your staff about the dangers of social engineering attacks, upgrade your digital security, and ramp up the efficiency of your IT operations as a whole.
Once your team knows exactly how they can be manipulated through social engineering attacks, the odds of such an attack proving successful will prove that much lower. This knowledge and training is exactly what your group needs to retain control over systems and prevent criminal access to your data. It will also help to educate partners and vendors about social engineering attacks to boot. Furthermore, many companies find establishing a hierarchy for information access that is based on experience/title proves to be the safest approach to data storage and retrieval.
The Process of Data Protection and Guarding Against Social Engineering
Take the time necessary to pinpoint your organization's most important data. Zero in on data that would prove to be most harmful if exposed to miscreants through social engineering. Set detailed guidelines for how this data should be handled. It might even help to engage employees in mock social engineering exercises to keep them aware of the looming threat.
At Northstar Technology our IT services experts in New Jersey can help you enhance your business, free up your team to focus on what they do best and make a meaningful impact on your bottom line. We can help with everything IT-related, including digital security. Contact us now to coordinate an initial consultation.
