Social engineering is “the use of deception to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential or personal information that may be used for fraudulent purposes.”
Cyber attack stats:
- Total cost for cybercrime committed globally has added up to over 1 trillion dollars in 2018 (Milkovich – hyperlink).
- According to Breach Level Index of 2018 First Half Review report, records breached in the first half of 2018 are 4,553,172,708.
- The major source of these data breaches result from human errors and poor security practices (source: Keepnet Labs)
- The social media industry ranks first in terms of a breach in the first half of 2018. Then, other industries subsequently follow it: government sector, other industries, retail, technology, industrial and education. (source: Keepnet Labs)
- According to the FBI, there have been 40,203 BEC attacks reported in the last three years, resulting in affected businesses losing more than $5.3 billion. Attacks have increased exponentially in the last two years, with a 2,370 percent increase in identified losses taking place between January 2015 and December 2016. (source: International Business Times)