Social engineering attacks, which exploit human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities, are among the most challenging cyber threats to defend against. Whether through phishing emails, pretexting, or impersonation, attackers rely on manipulation and deception to achieve their goals. However, by adopting a multi-layered approach that integrates technical safeguards, education, and organizational policies, businesses and individuals can effectively minimize the risks posed by social engineering.
What is Social Engineering?
According to NIST, social engineering is the act of deceiving an individual into revealing sensitive information, obtaining unauthorized access, or committing fraud by associating with the individual to gain confidence and trust.
Email and social engineering attacks go hand-in-hand. Attackers use email to connect with targets, and use social engineering tactics like impersonation, phishing, pretexting, or simple manipulation to try and get your employees to hand over credentials, cash, or other valuable business information.
How to Secure Your Email Against Social Engineering Threats
With the introduction of new technologies like social media and artificial intelligence, social engineering threats have become more sophisticated and harder to defend against. That doesn’t mean we are powerless to fight back. However, it’s not simple- preventing social engineering threats requires a combination of employee education, technical safeguards, and smart organizational policy. In the rest of this article, we dive into some ways that you can strengthen your security and fend off social engineering threats.
Awareness and Education
The first line of defense against social engineering is awareness. Attackers often rely on ignorance or emotional triggers, so empowering individuals to recognize these tactics is critical. Social engineering attacks are so successful because they exploit human weaknesses. While no security program can completely control for human error, it’s essential to educate employees about common threats and build a culture that encourages questioning.
Security Training Programs
It’s essential to provide employees with comprehensive training on how to identify phishing emails, suspicious links, and other forms of social engineering. Real-world simulations can be particularly effective, but don’t be too punitive for employees that fail. Shame is not an effective way to gain buy in to your security program.
Signs of Social Engineering
Your training program should teach individuals to recognize the warning signs of social engineering. Some common tactics include:
- unsolicited requests from authority figures
- the use of urgent language
- impersonation of familiar senders
By being aware of the threats, employees will think twice before engaging in risky behavior. Use some of these scenarios in your training program. For example, a classic phishing example is your CEO or manager asking you to buy gift cards for a “client,” while they are indisposed at a meeting. This may seem like an obvious scam while reading an article about phishing, but if you are a new employee on a busy work day that doesn’t want to disappoint the boss, this may seem like a reasonable ask. Through training, your employees will know what to look out for.
Build a Culture of Trust
Encourage employees to ask questions if they feel uncertain about a request. Create a culture where they feel comfortable reporting suspicious activity without fear of reprimand. Do not shame employees who have fall for schemes or who make mistakes. Embarrassing people only compromises your security program.
Technical Safeguards
While education is key, if employees do make mistakes, technical measures can help reduce the risk of human error and minimize the effectiveness of social engineering attempts. Let’s look at some common tools you can implement:
Email Filters
Implementing advanced email security software can help to filter suspicious messages and flag potential phishing attempts. It’s impossible for your employees to click on a bad link or respond to a bad guy if the message never lands in their inbox. Email filters can automatically flag spoofing and other attempts at obfuscation.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Require MFA for accessing accounts and sensitive data. Even if your employee accidentally hands over their credentials to an attacker, MFA may stop them from successfully accessing an account.
Endpoint Protection
Equip work devices with security software that detects and prevents malicious activities, such as the execution of phishing links or malware. If an employee does click on a phishing link, this software will prevent the execution of any malicious code.
Access Controls
By limiting access to sensitive information based on employee roles and responsibilities, it reduces the impact of a successful social engineering attack. Not every employee needs admin access to every system. You can drastically shrink your attack surface by smartly setting up access controls.
Policies and Protocols
Establishing clear policies and procedures ensures a coordinated and consistent response to potential threats. Eliminating ambiguity is an important goal during a security incident, so the roles, responsibilities, and actions should be clear. Your policies and procedures should align with the technical safeguards and training you already have in place. Below are a few examples of policy areas to consider to get you started.
Verification Protocols
Require verification of identity before processing sensitive requests, particularly those made over email or phone. For example, encourage employees to confirm requests for wire transfers or data sharing through a secondary communication channel. What happens if an employee receives an unexpected invoice in their inbox? Did a vendor’s bank account suddenly change? Create policies that instruct employees how to behave in these situations.
Incident Response Plans
Develop and communicate a clear plan for responding to suspected social engineering attacks. This might include isolating affected systems, reporting to the security team, and notifying any impacted stakeholders.
Periodic Policy Reviews
Finally, regularly update security policies to account for evolving threats and integrate lessons learned from past incidents. Incorporate what you are seeing back into your security training. There’s nothing like real-world experience to bring home the lesson.
Conclusion
By combining technical safeguards, vigilant employees, and robust policies, organizations and individuals can significantly reduce their susceptibility to social engineering attacks. Remember, the key to countering these threats is recognizing that the human element—when properly trained and supported—can be as strong as any technological defense.
As we have discussed, understanding the nature of these attacks, and implementing a layered approach to security is essential for defending against social engineering. Contact us to learn more about how Breach Point can help secure your organizations emails with managed email services.
