Hackers are constantly upgrading to launch cyber attacks and steal data, money, passwords, or make a system go bad. Something very common is that they use social engineering to scam the victim and get them to make a mistake. In this article we are going to talk about the new scams, the most common strategies today, with the aim of avoiding them and always keeping your devices protected.
New strategies to scam
We echo a report that they have made since SafeGuard Cyber, where they show which are the most present strategies at present. They are social engineering techniques used by cybercriminals to defraud the victim without them realizing it.
In recent times they are using messaging applications as an entry point to attack. An example is Slack, widely used in companies of all kinds. A classic is simply to use e-mail. What the cybercriminal does is gain the trust of the victim by using social engineering and posing as a co-worker, for example, with the aim of gaining access or sneaking some type of malware.
But there are many types of messaging programs and hackers know it. This is something that affects all kinds of applications and also social networks. They are a widely used means to carry out social engineering attacks and steal information, data, expose accounts…
A current technique, which we have seen in several attacks lately and which especially affects companies, is to fake virtual meetings through what is known as Deep Fake. Basically the attackers are going to use artificial intelligence to simulate a voice or images and make the victim believe that they are talking to another person.
We can say that these are the steps in social engineering attack:
- Search and exploration: they spend time analyzing the victim, learn more about their surroundings, etc.
- Create a false profile: this is what they will use to establish contact.
- Build trust: with this they achieve that the victim does not suspect and thus achieve the objective.
- Carry out the attack: send malware, impersonate identity…
- Exploitation: in this phase they can exploit the system thanks to the malware they have sneaked in.
What to do to be protected
As you can see, cybercriminals can use different strategies to sneak malware that could steal your bank accounts through social engineering. That is why we must be prepared at all times and not make mistakes. Common sense is going to be the main barrier, since they will normally require us to make a mistake, such as downloading a file, installing malicious software, etc.
But good security programs are also essential. Having a good antivirus will help detect malicious software and reduce the risk of problems appearing. There are many options available, both free and paid, but you must choose very well which one you are going to use and avoid problems.
On the other hand, it is equally important to keep everything up to date. In many cases, hackers will take advantage of vulnerabilities that may exist. Therefore, installing all the patches and updates can be of great help.
In short, as you can see there are different social engineering strategies that are growing lately. They are mainly taking advantage of messaging applications, so you should be very careful when using this type of software. Having security programs or keeping everything up to date is vital. It’s a good idea to turn on protection against ransomware, for example.
