What is social engineering?

Social engineering is a tactic used in cybersecurity where an individual manipulates others into divulging confidential or personal information that may be used for fraudulent purposes. This could involve various techniques, such as impersonating a trusted figure or creating a sense of urgency to prompt individuals to share sensitive data like passwords, social security numbers, or financial information.

Understanding social engineering is crucial as it exploits human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities. While technical measures like firewalls, security patches, and automated malware can help protect systems, they do not directly address the human element that social engineering targets. Thus, recognizing and mitigating social engineering threats is a critical aspect of network security.