What is social engineering in Skype?

As the term implies, social engineering is a term that describes a number of low-tech approaches that fraudsters will employ to trick you into divulging valuable private information or engaging in activities that will leave your computer vulnerable to attack by hackers. You can either do this through an online process or by visiting a local store.

Online techniques can lead to the possibility of being approached online by an individual you do not know, but who seems friendly and interested in what you have to offer – most often they appear to be a young woman who is attractive, or perhaps they claim to work for Skype’s support team. They will send you a contact request so that you can get in touch with them. In the event that you accept this, then they will be able to send you messages as soon as you accept this.

These contacts are in fact scammers. There are many times when these people are not even humans, but computer programs (“bots”) with a limited number of “lines” in their scripts, searching the internet for people to defraud, spam or otherwise take advantage of.

Online techniques include sending:

• The use of instant messages is aimed at tricking you into visiting websites or downloading files that contain viruses or spyware which compromise the privacy and security of your information.

• Spam refers to the unsolicited sale of goods or services via instant messages (invalid IMs).

• A message, a file, or a link that contains inappropriate or offensive content that violates the terms and conditions of the service.

As soon as you discover that you have shared your contact details with someone like this, you can block that user from further contacting you and also report them for abuse if you feel they have abused your contact details.

In person techniques include:

• When you use your computer in public, you may experience the phenomenon of “shoulder surfing” (looking over your shoulder and observing your details as you enter them).
• When you don’t properly log out or close your session when you’re done using a computer, you may be able to take over it. As long as your personal details are still on the machine, the next user is able to pretend to be you and access your information if they have access to it.

Please contact your bank or card issuer immediately if you suspect that you have been tricked into providing payment details by someone attempting to persuade you in any way.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is most vulnerable to social engineering?

 

There are two personality types that are most vulnerable to social engineering – agreeableness and extraversion.

What do you mean by social engineering?

In general, social engineering refers to a wide range of malicious activities carried out through the manipulation of human interaction to achieve malicious goals. Using psychological manipulation, it can cause users to make security mistakes or reveal sensitive information without their knowledge or consent.

What is a good example of social engineering?

 

An email appears from the customer support of an online shopping website that you often buy from, telling you that in order to protect your account, your credit card information needs to be confirmed. The email language in the message urges you to respond as quickly as possible to prevent criminals from stealing the information about your credit card.

Why is social engineering important?

A social engineering attack is a very popular tactic used by attackers since it is often much easier to exploit people than it is to find a vulnerability in a network or in a piece of software. There is a high likelihood that hackers will use social engineering tactics to infiltrate a system or network as part of a larger campaign aimed at stealing sensitive data or dispersing it to a victim or victims

All images and contents credit goes to supportskype.com