Post #6: Protecting Against Social Engineering and Phishing
As we become more connected to digital tools, the importance of protecting our information has never been greater. Some of the most dangerous threats today do not come from hackers breaking into systems, but from people being tricked into giving access away. These tactics fall under social engineering, phishing, and smishing. What is Social Engineering? Social engineering is when attackers manipulate people into revealing confidential information or giving access to secure systems. Instead of targeting a computer’s weakness, these attacks target human behavior. For example, someone might pretend to be tech support and convince an employee to share a password. People often fall for these scams because the attacker seems trustworthy or urgent. According to researchers Akyeşilmen and Alhosban (2024), social engineering succeeds by exploiting trust and habits, not by using advanced hacking tools. The damage can be serious. A successful attack might give someone access to a company’s intern...