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Most businesses today understand the importance of cyber security. Firewalls, antivirus software, secure cloud platforms, and multi-factor authentication are now pretty much standard in many organisations. These tools form the backbone of a secure IT environment, but they’re only one side of the story.
The truth is, most cyberattacks don’t start with a technical exploit or zero-day vulnerability. They start with an email, a phone call, or even a casual conversation. The entry point isn’t a vulnerability in your systems, it’s a vulnerability in human behaviour. And that’s what makes social engineering such a persistent, dangerous threat.
Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into giving up information, access, or permissions they shouldn’t. It exploits trust, authority, fear, and urgency to bypass even the strongest technical defences. For businesses, this presents a uniquely difficult challenge, one that technology alone cannot fix.
Understanding the Threat
Social engineering isn’t a new concept, but it has evolved dramatically since the advent of technology. Modern attacks are tailored, patient, and convincing. They might involve an email from someone pretending to be a supplier chasing an invoice, or a fake Microsoft 365 login page crafted to steal credentials. Some attacks may even unfold over days, weeks, or months, with the attacker slowly building trust before making their move.
These approaches are can sometimes be indistinguishable from legitimate communications. They’re polite, well-written, and often use information gathered from public sources such as company websites, LinkedIn, press releases, all with the eventual aim of appearing credible.
What makes social engineering so dangerous is that they don’t need to break your system. They just need one person to believe them, then suddenly you have a security incident on your hands.
Why Social Engineering Works on Employees
From a threat actor’s perspective, employees are ideal targets, simply because they will make mistakes.
It’s common knowledge that the majority of employees want to proactively solve problems, respond quickly to demands from higher-ups, and avoid letting their colleagues down. Social engineering preys on these instincts by creating situations that make people second guess themselves and let their guard down.
For example:
- A member of the finance team receives an urgent request from the “CEO” to process a payment before the end of the day.
- An HR professional is asked to confirm employee data for an audit.
- An office assistant receives a phone call from “IT” asking them to reset a password.
None of these situations seem especially out of the ordinary. But if an attacker is behind them, they can lead to serious data loss, financial fraud, or unauthorised access to systems.
And it’s not just junior staff who are vulnerable. Senior leadership are prime targets too — especially because they often have broad access and are less likely to be questioned when they make unusual requests.
The Training Gap Most Companies Miss
Many organisations actively invest in cyber security awareness training. But all too often, it’s kept to the bare minimum of a a once-a-year e-learning module that employees rush through and immediately forget. These sessions may cover basic do’s and don’ts, but they rarely prepare people for the real tactics used in modern social engineering attacks.
Social engineering works precisely because it doesn’t feel suspicious. Simple advice like “don’t click strange links” doesn’t go far enough when the link comes from someone who may be significantly senior to you, and expresses a sense of urgency or time constraint.
Businesses need to focus on repetition, realism, and relevance.
- Repetition means delivering regular, bite-sized training, rather than one big annual session. This ensures that key takeaways are always at the forefront of employee’s minds.
- Realism means using examples that reflect real-world threats, showing your employees the things they could actually encounter in their role to help them understand their responsibilities.
- Relevance means tailoring training to departments and job functions. The threats facing finance or procurement look different from those targeting HR or sales.
But even great training won’t work if the culture around it is broken.
The Real Cost of a Mistake
Perhaps the worst thing about social engineering is that a single moment of trust can unravel years of investment in technology and policy. Furthermore, the knock-on impact from a successful social engineering attack can be dire, such as:
- Data breaches that trigger regulatory fines and legal action.
- Reputational damage that erodes customer and stakeholder trust.
- Operational disruption that brings teams to a standstill.
- Internal investigations that divert time and resources from core work.
What Businesses Can Do
Fortunately, reducing social engineering risk doesn’t require a business to turn each employee into a cyber security expert. Rather, it’s about building a culture within a business where caution is normal, questions are welcomed, and security best practices are ingrained into the way that employees work day to day.
We’ve listed below some practical steps that businesses can take:
- Deliver ongoing, scenario-based training Simulate real-life social engineering attempts to help employees recognise them in action. Make training interactive and engaging, not just another policy to read or video to sit through.
- Tailor awareness to specific roles Different teams face different threats. Seperate arms of the organisation, such as Finance, HR, and Sales, should each understand the tactics commonly used against them.
- Build a culture of escalation without blame Encourage employees to speak up when something doesn’t feel right. Even if the concern turns out to be incorrect, they should still be commended for their vigilance, rather than reprimanded.
- Simplify reporting and support Make it easy for employees to report suspicious activity. Consider setting up a ticket system or having an email address that is constantly monitored by the correct people to manage a potential incident.
Employees will always be the first line of defence in any business. Social engineering is one of the most difficult attack methods to prevent, as it preys on the qualities that makes us all human. However, by implementing various education and escalation methods, business can help inform their employees about the threats they may be exposed to, and the proper routes to deal with them.
