social engineering Social engineering may happen everywhere people interact. These are the five most prevalent digital social engineering attacks. Baiting   Baiting assaults lure victims through deception. They then trick consumers into a trap that takes their data or infects their computers. Physical media luring spreads malware. Attackers leave bait—usually malware-infected flash drives—in prominent places where potential victims may notice them (e.g., bathrooms, elevators, the parking lot of a targeted company). The bait also seems real, with a payroll list label. Victims curiously insert the bait into a work or home computer, installing malware automatically. Baiting schemes may happen online. Enticing adverts that link to harmful sites or malware-infected apps are online baiting. Scareware   Scareware bombards victims with fake alerts and threats. Users are tricked into installing malware or useless software by being told their machine is infected. Scareware is also called deceit, rogue scanner, and fraud. “Your computer may be infected with hazardous spyware programmes” is a common scareware popup ad. It either installs the malware-infected programme or refers you to a dangerous site that infects your machine. Spam email warns customers of fake threats or sells useless or dangerous services. Pretexting   An attacker uses deception to get information. A perpetrator pretends to need sensitive information from a victim to complete an essential activity. The attacker frequently impersonates co-workers, police, bank and tax officials, or other right-to-know authorities to gain trust. Then, the pretense asks questions to authenticate the victim's identification, gathering vital personal data. This fraud collects social security numbers, phone numbers, residences, employee vacation dates, bank data, and physical plant security information. Phishing   Phishing scams, one of the most common social engineering attacks, use emails and texts to scare or intrigue victims. It then coaxes people into disclosing personal information, visiting dangerous websites, or opening malware-laden attachments. An online service user receives an email alerting them of a policy violation requiring quick action, such as a password reset. It prompts the unwary user to input their existing credentials and new password on a fake page that looks like the real one. After form submission, attacker receives information. Mail servers with threat-sharing systems can easily detect and prevent phishing attacks since all users receive identical or near-identical messages. Spear phishing   This type of phishing fraud targets specific people or businesses. To hide their attacks, they adapt their messages to victims' traits, jobs, and contacts. Spear phishing takes weeks or months to execute. Skilful execution makes them harder to detect and more successful. In a spear-phishing assault, a hacker poses as an IT expert and emails workers. It is written and signed like the consultant's other messages, fooling recipients. The mail asks users to update their password and links to a fraudulent URL where the attacker steals their credentials.