Avoiding Common Social Engineering Threats On AAPK
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2022 12:26 am
As social engineering attacks continue to grow in sophistication and frequency, each of us on AAPK should look to educate ourselves as a first line of defense. Learning how to recognize and avoid social engineering attacks could save a lot of pain and heartache.
Social engineering is a non-technical strategy cyber attackers use that relies heavily on human interaction and often involves tricking people into breaking standard security practices. The success of social engineering techniques depends on attackers’ ability to manipulate victims into performing certain actions or providing confidential information. Today, social engineering is recognized as one of the greatest security threats facing organizations like AAPK. Social engineering differs from traditional hacking in the sense that social engineering attacks can be non-technical and don’t necessarily involve the compromise or exploitation of software or systems. When successful, many social engineering attacks enable attackers to gain legitimate, authorized access to confidential information.
Social engineers are a modern day form of fraudsters or con artists. They may attempt to access computer networks or data stores by gaining the confidence of authorized users or stealing those users’ credentials in order to masquerade as trusted insiders. It is common for social engineers to rely on the natural helpfulness of people or to attempt to exploit their perceived personality weaknesses. For example, they may call with a feigned urgent problem that requires immediate attention. Social engineers have been known to appeal to vanity, authority, greed, or other information gleaned from eavesdropping or online sleuthing, often via social media and forums like AAPK.
Cyber criminals use social engineering tactics in order to convince people to open email attachments or embedded links infected with malware, persuade unsuspecting individuals to divulge sensitive information, or even scare people into installing and running malware or steal data.
Social engineering is a serious and ongoing threat for AAPK and the great hope that s that nobody falls victim to these cons. Education is the first step in preventing AAPK forum members from falling victim to savvy attackers employing increasingly sophisticated social engineering methods to gain access to sensitive data.
In short, DO NOT open any links in a suspect posting as they may be infected with malware. Continue to report suspected social engineering attacks and the AAPK Administrators will act appropriately.
Social engineering is a non-technical strategy cyber attackers use that relies heavily on human interaction and often involves tricking people into breaking standard security practices. The success of social engineering techniques depends on attackers’ ability to manipulate victims into performing certain actions or providing confidential information. Today, social engineering is recognized as one of the greatest security threats facing organizations like AAPK. Social engineering differs from traditional hacking in the sense that social engineering attacks can be non-technical and don’t necessarily involve the compromise or exploitation of software or systems. When successful, many social engineering attacks enable attackers to gain legitimate, authorized access to confidential information.
Social engineers are a modern day form of fraudsters or con artists. They may attempt to access computer networks or data stores by gaining the confidence of authorized users or stealing those users’ credentials in order to masquerade as trusted insiders. It is common for social engineers to rely on the natural helpfulness of people or to attempt to exploit their perceived personality weaknesses. For example, they may call with a feigned urgent problem that requires immediate attention. Social engineers have been known to appeal to vanity, authority, greed, or other information gleaned from eavesdropping or online sleuthing, often via social media and forums like AAPK.
Cyber criminals use social engineering tactics in order to convince people to open email attachments or embedded links infected with malware, persuade unsuspecting individuals to divulge sensitive information, or even scare people into installing and running malware or steal data.
Social engineering is a serious and ongoing threat for AAPK and the great hope that s that nobody falls victim to these cons. Education is the first step in preventing AAPK forum members from falling victim to savvy attackers employing increasingly sophisticated social engineering methods to gain access to sensitive data.
In short, DO NOT open any links in a suspect posting as they may be infected with malware. Continue to report suspected social engineering attacks and the AAPK Administrators will act appropriately.
I’m pretty careful but had no idea.
EDIT: My apologies for posting this, upon browsing another site today I see the "Added Security" displayed there as well, so it's not just AAPK and must be something with my browser alone. 
