One of the most effective ways that a threat actor uses to compromise a company’s digital or physical security is not through the complex use of technical tools but rather by understanding and manipulating human behavior. This type of tactic is known as social engineering, and its prevalence as an attack method has been consistently increasing over the past several years.

Social engineering can be defined as the use of deception to manipulate individuals into doing something they otherwise wouldn’t.

The frequency and effectiveness of social engineering attacks is increasing year-over-year. This is particularly true of phishing attacks, in which a threat actor poses as a trustworthy entity in order to convince an individual to click on an embedded link or open a malicious attachment. Since social engineering attacks target people, technology solutions struggle to effectively prevent them since technology has a hard time deciphering legitimate user behavior. As such, raising awareness of the threat posed by social engineering attacks is crucial in order to protect both individuals and companies from the consequences of such attacks.

This AXA XL Insurance whitepaper is brought to you by Intelligent Insurer.

To learn more about AXA XL, go here.