Social Engineering

Social engineering is the practice of tricking victims into supplying private information that could facilitate unauthorized access to a network.

Cybercriminals commonly precede cyberattacks with social engineering campaigns because they help them circumvent IT boundary security controls, such as firewalls.

If a successful social engineering attack isn’t possible, a cybercriminal is forced to progress through the first three stages of the cyber kill chain before achieving network access.

Key takeaways

  • Check icon
    Social engineering is one of the most significant threats to data security.
  • Check icon
    Human error is the primary attack vector in social engineering campaigns.
  • Check icon
    The best way to mitigate social engineering attacks is with regular security awareness training in the workplace.
  • Check icon
  • Check icon
Reviewed by
No items found.
UpGuard customer support teamUpGuard customer support teamUpGuard customer support team

See UpGuard In Action

Book a free, personalized onboarding call with one of our cybersecurity experts.

More from our blog

Learn more about the latest issues in cybersecurity.
Deliver icon

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest curated cybersecurity news, breaches, events and updates in your inbox every week.
Free instant security score

How secure is your organization?

Request a free cybersecurity report to discover key risks on your website, email, network, and brand.
  • Check icon
    Instant insights you can act on immediately
  • Check icon
    Hundreds of risk factors including email security, SSL, DNS health, open ports and common vulnerabilities
Website Security scan resultsWebsite Security scan rating