Guarding Corporate Data from Social Engineering Attacks

Abstract

The threat of social engineering attacks is prevalent in today’s society. Even with the pervasiveness of mass media’s coverage of hackers and security intrusions, the general population is not aware of the possible damage that could occur should they be subjected to a social engineering attack. In order to show the damage caused by these attacks, we will discuss the results of a social engineering attack based on a survey conducted in the downtown area of a large financial center in the United States. The authors make suggestions companies can incorporate into their policies in order to protect their employees, as well as systems from intrusions based on social engineering attacks.