Final answer:
Major social engineering attack methods comprise online schemes, telephone scams, personal manipulation, and reverse tactics. Hackers exploit human weaknesses to elicit sensitive information, often using the internet's widespread use to their benefit. Security awareness training is a key defense in reducing the efficacy of these attacks.
Step-by-step explanation:
Major attack methods used by social engineers include: 1) Online 2) Telephone 3) Personal 4) Reverse social engineering.
Social engineering tactics are increasingly sophisticated and diverse as cybercriminals exploit human psychology to extract confidential information. Individuals and organizations fall prey to clever manipulation via online schemes, such as phishing emails, telephone scams like vishing, personal interactions through tailgating or impersonation, and reverse social engineering, where attackers position themselves as IT help, encouraging victims to reach out for assistance.
Hackers take advantage of the growing online presence of users to perpetrate these attacks, often targeting personal data, financial information, and access credentials. Safeguarding measures include comprehensive security training, which is integral to minimizing successful attacks.Personal: Social engineers may physically interact with individuals to manipulate or deceive them into disclosing confidential informationReverse Social Engineering: This refers to social engineers gaining the trust of individuals and manipulating them to perform certain actions, without the individuals realizing they are being targeted.These attack methods are used by hackers to exploit human vulnerabilities and obtain sensitive information or gain unauthorized access to systems.