What is Social Engineering?

As modern cybersecurity solutions have become more sophisticated, so too have the methods used by hackers to maneuver around them. Social engineering techniques can take several different forms; the inability to recognize any of them can be a disaster for your network security.

It’s not enough to just have a quality vendor you can trust for your cybersecurity. There are steps that your team has to take to ensure that your personal information and user data are safe and sound. Otherwise, you might as well be holding the door open for unwanted users to enter your infrastructure and compromise your information.

In this blog, we’ll talk about what social engineering is and what steps your team can take to be more careful with your data.

What is Social Engineering?

We’ve all seen the super-obvious attempts from hackers to extract our personal data. And while it’s easy to recognize the threat when it’s an email from someone blatantly asking for money that you’ve never met before, the methods cybercriminals use to deceive and manipulate people have only become more sophisticated over time. Social engineering involves trying to trick users into giving up their passwords, login credentials, bank account information, or anything else that you normally would never share with someone else.

Cybercriminals can masquerade as a close friend or coworker and send you an email, urging you to click a link that otherwise seems harmless; they can even call companies and falsely verify your information so that the company will correct them with the correct information (check out this article if you want to be truly scared). The messages they send are often urgent in nature; it might be someone you think you know asking for help; an organization you’ve donated to in the past asking for more money; or a coworker asking you for confidential company info.

There are countless people you interact with over the phone and on your computer everyday—are you paying close enough attention to what you click on or who you give your information over to?

Why Training Your Team Matters

Security measures installed by an IT professional like Valeo Networks is certainly a good first step, but it doesn’t necessarily keep you free and clear from any and all external threats. That’s why training your team on up-to-date security measures is so important for avoiding downtime and the loss of your private information.

Valeo offers security training services designed to give your colleagues a better idea of what to look out for, whether it’s phishing emails or other baiting scenarios. It might take a little bit more time to be more diligent and protective over you confidential information, but isn’t it worth spending that extra time if it means saving your company from disaster?

For more information on how Valeo can put your company in a better position to avoid security threats, reach out to our team today.