Did you know that around 98 percent of the cyberattacks depend on social engineering, and about 43 percent of IT professionals said they had been targeted by social engineering schemes last year? (Source – Purplesec).
Stats show that social engineering, which involves the psychological manipulation of people to make them perform the required actions or disclose confidential information, has become the easiest and the most common way of stealing confidential and critical enterprise data. So yes, if you look at the numbers, social engineering attacks have become a grave concern that requires immediate attention and action from IT administrators.
The good news is, companies can hire cybersecurity companies in the US to help them avoid social engineering attacks through a set of actions and precautions. Accordingly, let us look at five ways how an organization can help prevent social engineering attacks by hiring a professional cybersecurity company.
Five Ways How to Prevent Social Engineering Attacks – Benefits of Hiring Cybersecurity Companies
Conduct a Security Awareness Training
As stated earlier, social engineering attacks rely on the psychological manipulation of people into performing a particular action or giving out critical company information. As a result, avoiding these attacks demands a significant transformation in the approach and the behavior of the company’s employees, making them aware of every possible security threat, and then training them on what to do and what to do not to.
Cybersecurity companies develop security awareness training programs and conduct them to help increase cybersecurity awareness including staying aware and cautious about potential social engineering instances, acquainting them with various social engineering techniques. Additionally, regular refresher training for new and existing employees can help avert such attacks in the long run.
Establish Anti-Social Engineering Processes and Protocols in Place
Social, the word itself says it all. Here, it isn’t about attempting to barge into an environment through a system or a program but by tricking human beings, who often tend to be the weakest links in a particular network. So, in addition to training, companies must also set up good anti-social engineering processes that keep such attacks at bay. Hiring a professional cybersecurity company helps as it designs and implements anti-social engineering processes.
For instance, the company can set up system protocols that restrict access to a document, a folder, or a part of the network to unauthorized employees who social engineers might have advertently or inadvertently brought over to access and share it with them. Additionally, systems can be implemented for financial transactions, wherein the user is asked for unique authority-based verifications before processing the transfer.
Monitor the IT Environment 24/7
Social engineers do not attack any random network. They are intelligent and vigilant enough to observe networks, their monitoring routines, and the systems in place. An IT environment that isn’t monitored 24/7 is among the most vulnerable to social engineering attacks, and accordingly, companies must hire a professional cybersecurity firm.
Cybersecurity firms provide MSSP (Managed Security Service Provider) services that facilitate the required level of intensively managed security. The MSSP team comprises specialist security professionals that monitor the IT environment 24/7, identify network problems proactively with the help of tools that perform behavioral analysis, and point out anomalies. Additionally, such a 24/7 monitoring system potentially prevents other system-based threats.
Setup Privileged Access and Two-Factor Authentication
One of the most significant factors that social engineering relies upon is escalating privileges to enable access to a network. The absence of an additional yet critical layer of authentication simplifies the attackers’ entry into a system.
Here, a cybersecurity company takes preventive measures that involve adding a two-factor or multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication uses two or more factors to verify your identity, such as a combination of,
- Factors that you know, such as a password or pin number
- Devices that you have such as a token, phone, or other digital gadgets, etc.
- Unique factors that include fingerprint, retina scan, palm print, GPS location (to verify you are logging in from the right area)
That extra or another factor proves a critical weapon in battling a potential attack. Even if the attackers acquire the password, they won’t go beyond it, as they wouldn’t have the other access key. Further, the cybersecurity professionals would also set roles (if not already in place) to enable authority-based access to resources.
Penetration Testing
Another effective way to avert a social engineering attack is to conduct a penetration test and detect and discover the organization’s various vulnerabilities. Specialized cybersecurity firms perform pen-tests that endanger the critical system of a particular company to help it identify the system or employees that require the protection, coupled with identifying the type of attacks that its system is likely to encounter.
Some other effective social engineering preventive measures include setting up systems or protocols that include,
- Obtaining SSL certificates from trusted authorities
- Enabling spam filters
- Monitoring the company’s digital footprint
- Conducting regular cybersecurity posture assessments of the cyber environment
- Using gateways to avoid scam emails, and
- Preventing pre-texting
Secure Your Company from Social Engineering Attacks with Alliant Cybersecurity!
As one of the top cybersecurity companies in the US, Alliant’s cybersecurity solutions are an apt answer to preventing social engineering attacks. The company has a broad array of solutions to help companies avoid social engineering instances and thus safeguard critical data from being divulged or stolen. For more information and to know how hiring Alliant Cybersecurity can prove helpful in your case, write to [email protected].
