With cyber security tools becoming ever-more advanced, cyber criminals are frequently turning to social engineering techniques such as phishing to gain access to confidential corporate data.
It is widely believed that people are the weakest link in security for organisations, so criminals are using human interaction to manipulate their victims into handing over sensitive information.
ConsumerProtect.com has created an infographic on the subject, taking a closer look at the world of social engineering. On average, 33.61 per cent of global phishing attacks caused infection and five out of six large companies (with more than 2,500 employees) have been targeted by spear-phishing campaigns.
Thanks to the success of phishing, social engineers are evolving their techniques into new areas such as vishing, aka ‘voice phishing’ where fraudsters coax unsuspecting people into giving out personal information over the phone. The largest vishing case in history is believed to be an IRS phone scam where criminals targeted 366,000 US taxpayers demanding payment for back taxes reaching $15.5 million.
The infographic then goes into several vishing techniques, such as persuasion, urgency and silent treatment and offers some advice for surviving attacks. The full infographic can be found below.
