European workers vulnerable to social engineering attacks

Hackers are using social media to gather information about their next victim. They use that information to form sophisticated strategies and deliver advanced threats into networks.

These are the results of a new Blue Coat Systems report, based on a poll of 3,130 workers in various industries in Great Britain, France and Germany. Key takeaway from the report is that user behavior has not improved much since last year. This year, 42 percent of respondents say they only accept friend requests from people they know.

This is down one percent, compared to a year before. Just as last year, 60 percent have their privacy settings set up in a way that everyone can see their profile. Forty-one percent always double-check people's identities before communicating. This is a slight improvement over 2015, when the figure stood at 38 percent.

"This research highlights the risks organizations are exposed to due to the behavior of their employees on social media and messaging applications", says Robert Arandjelovic, director of Blue Coat product marketing in EMEA for Symantec.

"Social engineering remains a common tactic for threat actors to gain access to business networks, in part due to many employees leaving security holes through poor social media practices. This makes it easier to have an account compromised, and for attackers to move laterally to more sensitive business applications that contain critical data", adds Arandjelovic.

All generations, millennials included, pose a significant security risk, the report says, adding that Germans are most likely to use encrypted applications. Every job sector still has much to learn about cyber-security, the report concludes.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Future plc Publication. All rights reserved.

Photo Credit: adike/Shutterstock