Cybercrime, online scams, cyberattacks, mass hacking. These terms –which refer to the various types of digital threats we are all exposed to– are increasingly less strange to most of the population.
If we add to that all the technology that exists, why do serious cybersecurity problems continue to occur? Because the weakest link in the chain continues to be you, the end user. The use of social engineering is key to this complex situation.
Social engineering refers to a series of techniques based on psychological manipulation, in such a way that a person can share confidential information or perform some unsafe action. Like this, personal data, Passwords, databases, financial information and more can end up in the hands of cybercriminals.
This situation remains valid because, generally, people still think that the digital or virtual environment has no relation to their daily life. As if it were assumed that what happens on the Internet, on social networks, en la web…, has no effect on 'the real world'.
In a computer system you can improve the code, make a robust design or apply security patches. You can't put patches on people. You can try to educate them, but they will always have the final decision: I click or I don't; ', I, Director of the Global Research and Analysis Team at Kaspersky Lab.
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But there are other social engineering tactics that are very effective and that do not occur in a digital environment.
What would you do if you find on the street, while returning from lunch to your office, a USB drive, with a very eye-catching design or a very large storage capacity? What if it is sent to you as a gift? If your first impulse is to plug that USB drive into your home or office computer to see what's on it, you've already fallen for it. Even if it appears to be empty, it is very likely that it has infected your computer.
The only way we can fight social engineering is with information. Part of people's digital literacy should be aimed at understanding the ways cybercriminals operate. Una vez más, education is a fundamental piece.
Fountain: El Comercio