What is social engineering?

[Enriqueta]

Hello everyone, many a times, my system becomes infected with various infections and when I search for the ,methods to avoid them from entering the system, most of the answers I get is to beware of social engineering. I need to know what is social engineering? Is this some kind of actions that the attacker does into the system? Can the antivirus used to protect the system from social engineering?

[Masters]

Social engineering is a method used by the attackers to gain access into the system. The may pose as an administrator of an official site and ask you to give many of your personal information, including your Email ID and Password. This helps them to gain access into your account easily. You have to be aware of these attacks. Only unsuspected users fall prey to them.

[Engg.]

The attacker may pose as a friend and may tell you to accept some file that may contain infections. The attacker will tell that it is a very good file and it is very useful and he will try to convince you in a very friendly manner. Such types of attacks are called as social engineering attacks. It is your responsibility to decline such file transfers and protect yourself from such attacks.

[Zimic]

Attackers use social engineering methods to gain access into the system by sending infections into the system. One of the methods used in social engineering is that the attacker sends mails to as many email ids as possible. Since, there are many unsuspecting users who open all types of mail attachments, it is possible that he may get many preys by using this technique. So, to avoid such attacks avoid opening unknown email attachments.

[G-MAT]

Social engineering is a very famous technique used by the attackers as the people always rely on one another for many types of technical queries. Some people do not know the importance of the vital information that they are having, hence they give it out easily when anyone asks for it. To protect from social engineering, you will have to keep the information well protected with necessary security. There is no other method to avoid social engineering.

[Educated]

Social engineering are generally of 2 types:

1. Internal
2. External

The internal attacks are done by the colleagues or employees working together or even by friends. Since, they generally have some information about your personal data, it is easy to take over your account.
The external attacks are done by the outside attackers, may be with some particular purpose or even for fun.