[Cyber Security Terms](/glossary) Social Engineering [Blog](/blog)[Breaches](/breaches)[Resources](/resources)[News](/news) [Cyber Security Terms](/glossary) # Social Engineering ##### [Edward Kost](/team/edward-kost) updated Sep 11, 2022 ###### Contents ## 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](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cyber-kill-chain) before achieving network access. ## Key takeaways * Social engineering is one of the most significant threats to data security. * Human error is the primary attack vector in social engineering campaigns. * The best way to mitigate social engineering attacks is with regular security awareness training in the workplace. * * ###### Reviewed by No items found. ###### Author ##### [Edward Kost](/team/edward-kost) ###### Reviewed by ##### [Kaushik Sen](/team/kaushik-sen) ###### Join 27,000+ cybersecurity newsletter subscribers ## Read more about Social Engineering Learn more about Social Engineering and the latest issues in cybersecurity. [UpGuard](/blog/social-engineering) [What is Social Engineering? Definition + Attack Examples](/blog/social-engineering) #### [What is Social Engineering? 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