Updated: Sep 20, 2024 By: Marios
So, just imagine this: you’re knee-deep in a busy workday, juggling emails, calls, and tasks, when suddenly you get a message from your boss—or so it seems. They’re asking for something urgent—maybe access to sensitive files or a quick transfer of funds. In the chaos of the moment, you comply. But later, you realize it wasn’t your boss at all.
Even if you’re the boss, maybe you’re mistakenly thinking it was a team member, only for it to actually not be one. Well, welcome to the world of social engineering, where criminals manipulate your trust to trick you into handing over valuable information.
While sure, AI is great, this has made social engineering become way easier for criminals. Seriosily, these scams are becoming more dangerous than ever. Just think AI-generated voices that sound just like your colleagues or deepfake videos that could fool even the most cautious among us. It’s no longer just about dodgy emails with spelling mistakes; social engineering has taken a big leap forward, and small businesses need to be ready.
Now, with all of that said, here’s how you can protect your business from becoming the next victim of these increasingly sophisticated scams.
What’s the Deal with AI-Powered Social Engineering?
Now, social engineering is nothing new—it’s been around for a while. But AI has seriously leveled up the game. In the past, phishing emails and fake phone calls were clunky and often easy to spot. Sure, sometimes you could get someone who really did their research to get what they want (like James Bond-level).
But with AI, it’s different. Criminals can now create AI-generated voices that sound just like someone on your team. So, just go ahead and imagine getting a call from a familiar voice asking for sensitive info or telling you to make a payment. Sounds legit, right?
That’s the problem—AI makes these scams hard to distinguish from the real thing. The same goes for deepfakes too, so it’s no longer just emails you need to be wary of; AI can now mimic people’s voices and faces, making the whole situation a lot more dangerous for businesses like yours.
Teach Your Team to Spot the Red Flags
The best way to defend against social engineering is to make sure your team knows what to look out for. Scammers count on people not questioning a familiar voice or a request that seems legitimate, but awareness is your best friend here.
So, it’s time to train your staff to recognize suspicious emails, phone calls, or even videos. AI is getting better at making these scams look and sound real, so it’s important that everyone in your business knows to question anything that feels even slightly off. If they get an unexpected request for sensitive info, they should know not to act on it until they’ve double-checked with the person involved through secure channels.
Don’t Take Anything at Face Value
One of the smartest ways to protect your business is to establish strong verification processes. Yes, it really can be that simple, too. So, you really need to understand that gone are the days when you could just trust that a voice on the phone or an email in your inbox was who it claimed to be.
So this is exactly why you’re going to have to implement clear steps for confirming requests that involve sensitive information, money transfers, or any action that could put the business at risk. For example, if someone asks for access to important files or payments, there should always be a second method of verifying the request—like picking up the phone and calling them directly on a trusted number (but keep in mind numbers can be spoofed, too).
Do What You Can to Add Extra Layers of Protection
So, another simple but effective step is to separate your business and personal phone communications. For starters, you and everyone else in the business should have already been doing this right from the start. So ideally, you should really look into a virtual phone system rather than you or your team giving out personal phone numbers. It just makes managing communication significantly more secure. Plus, there are added security features app too that are essentially going to make it a lot tougher for criminals to pull off a phone-based scam.
Keep Your Business and Personal Info Off Social Media
You really need to understand that social media is a treasure trove for cybercriminals. So, just think about it: many businesses (and their employees) post way too much information about their operations, projects, and team members online. Scammers love this kind of intel because it helps them craft highly believable scams that seem legit.
If you’re serious about preventing social engineering attacks, you need to be more selective about what you share online. Do you really need to list all your employees’ names and roles on LinkedIn or your website? Probably not.
So, this is obvious, but you should really keep sensitive business operations offline, and encourage your employees to think twice before oversharing personal details, especially on public social media profiles. The less info scammers have to work with, the harder it is for them to target your business.
Multi-Factor Authentication is Your Best Friend
Now, this one is advised often, and yes, by all means you should do this too! So just try and require multi-factor authentication for all important systems and accounts. So, this is going to make it much harder for criminals to gain access. Believe it or not, this alone can be a solid barrier!
Encourage Your Team to Be Skeptical
Perhaps the most powerful tool against social engineering is a little skepticism. Yes, you read that right! So, employees shouldn’t feel pressured to act immediately on requests that seem urgent—especially when sensitive data or money is involved. Instead, create a culture where it’s okay to pause, question, and verify.
Yes, it’s something that should be looked into! So, just by encouraging employees to be cautious can save your business from a potentially costly mistake. If someone feels uncomfortable with a request or something seems off, they should know that it’s okay to slow down and take the necessary steps to confirm everything is legit.
