Social Engineering Trends 2021

FEATURES Five Social Engineering Trends to Watch for 2021 By Stu Sjouwerman March 24, 2021

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[{"selector":"#anim-b70b1873-ed23-4810-9422-fd663bd774d9","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -110%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.19, 1, 0.22, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-0b3b19c0-8ff5-4e83-a198-194524ac1a3b","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(105%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-0e82d25f-1a4a-4131-a05c-42a880dea63f","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -20px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":800,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.77, 0, 0.175, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-d708100d-273c-4885-82d4-8294fba40a75","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1101,"direction":"normal","duration":500,"easing":"linear","fill":"both"}] #1 Consent phishing on the rise Post Covid-19, more and more businesses are moving their workloads to the cloud, and attackers are coming up with ingenious ways to hijack data stored in the cloud. So-called ‘consent phishing’ is one such variant of social engineering...

[{"selector":"#anim-ab0c8f81-fc2f-47ff-bf10-0f3260bcd544","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -110%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.19, 1, 0.22, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-3f8d38e0-22a8-4738-813f-10c13dabfcae","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -20px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":800,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.77, 0, 0.175, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-fbe0706f-acb0-4ff1-b5d5-2baf4c4a7c5b","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1101,"direction":"normal","duration":500,"easing":"linear","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e88c4025-df7d-4294-952b-27ae69e244a6","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(105%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1)","fill":"both"}] #2 Business Email Compromise gets costlier The FBI considers business email compromise (BEC) a.k.a. email account compromise, as one of the most damaging online financial crimes. This is another social engineering attack where cybercriminals impersonate a trusted business contact...

[{"selector":"#anim-af0e4755-fe4f-4d18-9626-ee45c312d2a0","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -110%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.19, 1, 0.22, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-66925e7f-4217-4a73-9bf6-25d1ca9f4f92","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -20px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":800,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.77, 0, 0.175, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-8e350c5a-459d-404b-af98-856d21cbb60e","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1101,"direction":"normal","duration":500,"easing":"linear","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-9645f674-d09e-46e2-96f0-71bfe89357c6","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(105%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1)","fill":"both"}] #3 Deepfakes create deeper challenges While social media enthusiasts use deepfake videos as a form of entertainment, hackers and cybercriminals see this as an opportunity to manipulate information, destroy credibility and impersonate trusted sources...

[{"selector":"#anim-24ee68e2-fac6-499d-a1cc-4c9616ec3d38","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -110%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.19, 1, 0.22, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-595588b6-28a2-4395-b279-ace5630b5d15","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -20px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":800,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.77, 0, 0.175, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f12d76e6-3e1b-4985-9f06-f38d67d3bf73","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1101,"direction":"normal","duration":500,"easing":"linear","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-07c9cd7f-4d51-4ab5-a049-683aa33e3051","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(105%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1)","fill":"both"}] #4 Nation-state attackers with social engineering in their arsenal Data is the new oil and that’s why rogue nations are consistently upping their ante in cyberwarfare. Whether it’s stealing Covid-19 research or reconnaissance on high-value targets, state-sponsored attacks are growing fast...

[{"selector":"#anim-17052936-dbe5-4c19-897b-5d16a9f63680","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -110%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.19, 1, 0.22, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-5fc5f729-920e-4675-822b-abce894f2498","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -20px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":800,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.77, 0, 0.175, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-da61d838-262b-4626-9286-d9f8caf083e7","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1101,"direction":"normal","duration":500,"easing":"linear","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-bbbf9187-2d70-461a-ab14-451039e46610","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(105%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":1000,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1)","fill":"both"}] #5 Expanding Phishing-as-a-Service market From ransomware attacks to malware infections stemming from people clicking on bogus URLs, fake websites, and malicious attachments, phishing is one of the most common and most potent forms of social engineering attacks...

[{"selector":"#anim-16d6cc1a-ebe3-44ae-9011-bf2f5aae1a8a","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 80px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":800,"direction":"normal","duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.165, 0.84, 0.44, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-13a719c8-8f6e-4c65-bc7a-51eec50c2dcf","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1001,"direction":"normal","duration":501,"easing":"linear","fill":"both"}] User awareness is no longer optional – it’s a strategic imperative Five Social Engineering Trends to Watch for 2021