Social engineering is the use of deception to manipulate people into divulging confidential or personal information that may be used for fraudulent purposes. What does this mean? It means that Social engineering attacks are not technical attacks, they are people attacks. Cyber thieves are looking to exploit people and their behaviors to take advantage of their position and access. Instead of looking for a vulnerability in a firewall or a password, the cyber thief will try mislead someone into giving them the information they need.
All too often, Companies try to apply a technical solution to this non-technical challenge. While there may be technical solutions to help protect you, at the end of the day it comes down to your people, the decisions they make, and the actions (or lack of) that they take. With this being said, It is important to understand the nature and types of social engineering attacks to properly develop a security strategy to keep you and your data safe.
Cyber thieves are trying to use our emotions of FEAR, GREED, CURIOSITY, HELPFULNESS, and URGENCY to attack you and your data. They play on these emotions with their sophisticated attacks. In the list below, you will find five common social engineering attacks. Each of these attacks are used to target any of these five emotions.
Social engineering attacks don’t target your systems—they target your people. Cybercriminals manipulate emotions like fear, urgency, and helpfulness to trick employees into handing over sensitive information or access. While Cybersecurity technology matters, your team serves as your strongest defense. Partnering with an IT Managed Service Provider helps you combine robust Cloud Data Protection with practical employee training. The key is teaching your staff to pause, verify, and question before they click or comply, turning every team member into an active guardian of your organization’s security.
Common Social Engineering Attacks:
- Baiting (quid pro quo): An online and physical social engineering attack that promises the victim a reward.
- Tailgating: Relies on human trust to give the criminal physical access to a secure building or area.
- Phishing: Tactics include deceptive emails, websites, and text messages to steal information.
- Pretexting: Uses false identity to trick victims into giving up information.
- Vishing: Urgent voicemails convince victims they need to act quickly to protect themselves from arrest or other risk.
Looking forward, we will explore each of these five social engineering attacks in detail. I will provide you with examples of each attack method and how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of a cyber thief.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q. What is social engineering — is it just another kind of phishing?
A. Think of social engineering as the art of the con-artist walking into your digital world: it’s when criminals manipulate people (not just systems) to hand over access or information. At Century Solutions Group, we treat it as a human vulnerability that needs the same serious safeguards as your firewall.
Q. Why do social engineering attacks work so well even with good security measures in place?
A. Because they exploit people’s instincts: trust, urgency, fear or a desire to help. At Century Solutions Group we believe the strongest defence isn’t just technology—it’s teaching your team to pause before they click, confirm before they comply, and question before they hand over.
Q. Can small companies be targeted?
A. Absolutely small companies are vulnerable — in fact they often make easier targets because processes may be less tight. At Century Solutions Group we help businesses of every size build the mindset and controls that turn every employee into a line of defence.
Q. What’s the first step I should take to protect my team against social engineering?
A. Start by training your people — simple real-world scenarios that show how the scam might arrive (email, phone, message). At Century Solutions Group we recommend running interactive awareness sessions and layering in verification procedures (like “call back the person” or “check the link outside the email”) before relying only on tech fix’s.