Priya PatelTLDR:
– Social engineering, the practice of taking advantage of people’s vulnerabilities to carry out malicious acts, accounts for over 75% of all cyber threats on desktop and mobile.
– Scammers target Indian adults with nearly 60 scam attempts on average per week.
Nasdaq-listed cybersecurity company, Gen, emphasizes the importance of putting people at the center of cybersecurity, rather than focusing solely on technology. In an interview with Bizz Buzz, Villiam Lisy, Principal Scientist at Gen, highlights the prevalence of social engineering as a cyber threat, stating that it makes up over 75% of all cyber threats. Social engineering involves manipulating people’s vulnerabilities to carry out malicious acts, such as tricking them into giving away sensitive information or installing malware. Lisy also notes that India is a major target for scammers, with Indian adults facing an average of 60 scam attempts per week.
Lisy underscores the importance of human-centric digital safety, explaining that traditional cybersecurity measures focus primarily on closing technical security gaps, while threats that directly target people, such as social engineering, are often neglected. Additionally, he highlights the role of digital marketing and social media influencers in raising awareness about cyber threats and how to protect against them. Gen’s research shows that over 75% of desktop scams in 2023 were due to social engineering, and in India, 78% of adults have fallen victim to a cyber crime at some point.
Gen, as an independent cybersecurity company, is committed to helping keep users secure online. They rely on anonymized data from over 500 million customers worldwide to identify patterns of fraud and misinformation early on. Lisy also highlights the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in combatting cyber crime. Advances in natural language understanding and AI algorithms can help detect scams, toxic conversations, and fake news, offering various solutions to protect against social engineering.
