What is social engineering?
Social engineering is a technique by which attackers exploit human error and psychology to manipulate people and get confidential information, or grant access to systems or perform actions that compromise security.
Common social engineering techniques are:
Phishing: Emails, texts, or calls that look genuine, like coming from a government source or colleague, but trick them and get sensitive information or download malware on devices. Vishing (voice phishing), SMS phishing (smising).
Pretexting: Creating a pretext to gain the victim’s trust and obtain information. The attacker can talk as tech support or a government employee to establish legitimacy.
Scareware: False threats and fictional alarms of cyber attack to scare the victim into installing malicious software or paying ransom.
Quid Pro Quo: Offering a service or benefit in exchange for information or an action. Like a prize or free IT assistance.
Baiting: It is like offering free music downloads or movies containing malware. Infected USB drives are left in public to lure in a trap.
Social engineering safeguards to detect runtime attacks:
Check marketplace enforcement: It ensures that the app is installed and running only from authorised marketplaces to prevent tampered or fake versions.
Prevent APK sharing: It blocks unauthorised APK extraction and sharing to stop app piracy, repackaging, and malware injection.
To learn more about these security features, refer to the above cards.
How to protect devices and applications from social engineering:
Social engineering can be dangerous as it plays with human psychology. Always pause and verify the sender, calls, and test messages before responding.
- Implement Multi-factor Authentication (MFA).
- Enforce strict access controls.
- Session management & timeout.
- Data validation and filtering.
Integrate a RASP solution into your mobile applications, such as Bugsmirror Defender, that detect and prevent runtime threats like social engineering attacks in real time. It provides continuous protection. By securing the app from the Bugsmirror Defender, organisations can reduce fraud, protect users, and maintain trust without impacting performance or user experience.