Impersonation is a technique used in social engineering, where an individual acts or pretends to be someone else to gain the potential victim’s trust. Once trust is established, the impersonator is then able to extract information or manipulate their targets into committing nefarious acts.
Example:
Sarah, an employee at Cybercraftedwords, receives an urgent phone call. The caller identifies themselves as John, the IT administrator, and explains that there’s been a security breach in the company’s network. John urgently requests Sarah’s login credentials to perform an emergency security update. Sarah complies and provides the details to the attacker, John.
Prevention Tips:
- Verify the identity of anyone requesting personal information or access to secure areas.
- Be cautious of unsolicited calls, emails, or messages, even if they appear from a familiar source.
- Question urgency and any requests that pressure you into taking immediate action.