Social Engineering – What Is It & What type of attack is Tailgating

Various studies show human error is the leading cause for 95% of data breaches and other cyber-attacks. Looking at this, it won’t be a hyperbole to say that the most common threat to enterprise security will be human psychology. 

Therefore, today in this article, we will explore what social engineering attack is and what type of attack is tailgating. 

What is Social Engineering Attack?

Social engineering is an inclusive term; it encompasses malicious activities like – phishing scams, pretexting, baiting, Quid Pro Quo, and most rampant these days tailgating. To bring social engineering attacks into effect, cybercriminals play with human psychology. They trick the victim to get access to personal information and break security of the restricted area. Due to this, social engineering attacks are considered to the most heinous type of attack. The first line of defence (employees) are the feeblest link. A single click without paying attention can cause tens of thousands of dollars to a company. 

Now, that we know what social engineering attack is let’s look at the Tailgating attack. Alongside we would suggest installing and running an antivirus on your Windows operating system.

What is Tailgating Attack?

When an attacker tries to enter restricted premises, where an electronic access control system controls access, it is called tailgating attack. Most of the time, attackers impersonate a delivery person, driver, etc., and wait outside the building. When an employee or anyone with the access to premises opens the door, they ask them to hold the door. Thus, gaining access via authorized personnel. But this trick doesn’t work every time, because in bigger organizations RFID cards are used. To dodge this security measure what they do is walk behind the person. All this is done to gain access because the core focus is to get physical access to the site. 

Moreover, they design fake cards or borrow lanyard by impersonating as an employee, hanging out with you in the lunch area, smoking area, etc. During this time, they wait for that moment where they can steal the card and make a duplicate. 

So, in simple words, we can say tailgating is a common security breach in which an unauthorized person gains access to the organization’s site by tricking the victim or manipulating the user. The other name for tailgating is piggybacking attack, and it is a common security problem. It’s not that only hackers use it sometimes employees too use it to escape from the meeting, timing restrictions, etc. 

Piggybacking can root to a substantial amount of harm to an organization.  In a survey conducted, it has been found that tailgating attacks caused loss ranging from $150,000 to more.

The purpose of tailgating attacks always is to steal personal details for nasty purposes.

How To Prevent Tailgating – Social Engineering Attack?

Nowadays to stay protected from online attacks, organizations devote resource on firewall, network security, and other safety measures due to which they the common mishappening are overlooked. Therefore, to completely secure your organization from cybercriminals, it is essential to keep an eye on physical attacks also. In addition to this, think like the cybercriminals and the vulnerabilities that can be exploited. Besides, keep the following points in mind to prevent tailgating:

• Be watchful of who is following you and for whom you are opening the door, especially for restricted access areas.
  
• Pay attention to people. If you see any unfamiliar person slipping through security measures inform security. 
  
• One should be courteous but not when giving access to someone to a door that requires smart card access. Avoid holding a door that gives access to restricted areas. 
• If you find a stranger roaming around in the premises or restricted area, talk to them and escort to the correct location. 
• Be vigilant of people with whom you share any details or even your security access for that matter.
• Lock your system and other devices whenever you leave the workstation.
• Don’t let unknown people enter restricted premises unless they have some written permission. 
• If a delivery person asks for access to a secured location, never grant it. 
• Keep your access, identity card with you while you are on the premises. Ensure you do not misplace it or handover it to anyone. 
• Should not attach external devices like USB, memory cards to the system without verification.

By keeping these points in mind, you can secure your organization from tailgating social engineering attacks. 

Alongside, to keep organizations protected try to keep social engineering attacks like shoulder surfing, tailgating, phishing, etc. at bay. With the help of the right security solutions and measures like Systweak Antivirus and other steps as discussed above you can prevent your organization against tailgating attacks, and other threats that might harm your system security and data. Hope you will keep these points in mind and will stay safe from tailgating social engineering attacks.

Ever experienced tailgating? Or seen anyone attempting it? Share with us and let us know what approach you took to combat this social engineering attack.