Human Firewall Tip # 8: Women and Social Engineering

The Human Firewall Tip is about women and social engineering. This is about sharing awareness on common social engineering tactics used for a successful take over of your account, system or even your data. This is a perfect time to share this awareness as we celebrate International Women's Day today.

According to an article published by SC Magazine, "women are more susceptible to phishing than men". As a Human Firewall we need to understand and learn about what are the usual indicators we can protect ourselves and people around us.

• In emails - did you receive an unusual email from someone that you know or you don't know? Is the message asking for an urgent reply from you or asking you to do something? does it include links or even attachments?
• In chatrooms - this is common in dating or romance websites. In the same article, researchers point out that women do tend to be more comfortable with digital communication. This makes women more vulnerable against cyber stalkers who are after women to threaten, harass, cyber bully or even ask for malicious intentions.
• In SMS or TXT message - did you receive an SMS that you won in a raffle and you need to click a link? This normally happens and once you clicked on a link, it will redirect you to a made-up website designed to request for your personal information or download malware on your computer.
• In phone calls - cold calls are another one. Someone trying to deceive you that they are connected to a utility company and they need to get your information. 
• In community forums - there are people in forums that are pretending to be nice. They are the ones that are helpful and give you a lot of information. They are doing this to gain your trust until they will be able manipulate you into doing something in return.

We need to be vigilant. We also need to ask help and speak up if we are being targeted already. Don't trust someone you just met online until their intention is clear. 

Disclaimer: Following the Human Firewall tips are at your own discretion. Any actions you may take upon the information on this page is strictly at your own risk.