Social engineering attacks represent one of the most persistent threats to organisations today. As a security engineer with over nine years of experience in cybersecurity, I have seen firsthand how these attacks exploit human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities.
Humans make mistakes that even the best tech solutions cannot prevent, so the first step in minimising the risk of social engineering attacks is to acknowledge that they will inevitably happen. You cannot pretend that you or your organisation are somehow safeguarded against all types of social engineering attacks.
The following strategies will help your organisation build resilience against these attacks, from basic awareness to sophisticated defence mechanisms.
1. Create an open security culture
The smartest organisations create an open “awareness culture” around security. This is the type of culture where security is everyone's concern, and not left alone to the IT department.
An effective awareness culture empowers everyone to act. For example, if anybody has any inkling of doubt about who another person is claiming to be, they should feel free to challenge that person to show appropriate identification. If you are a leader, ask yourself this question: Can your employees challenge you and the rest of your executive team? Or do you have vulnerabilities based on their perception of your power, the overall business hierarchy, or the sense of urgency that emanates from your C-suite?
When employees feel empowered to question unusual requests without fear of repercussion, social engineering attacks become much harder to execute. This culture especially protects against attacks that exploit authority, like Business Email Compromise (BEC), where attackers impersonate executives to request illegitimate financial transactions.
2. Implement technological safeguards
Social engineering attacks target human psychology, so the mental burden placed on your employees plays a big part in your strategy. Making everyone suspicious of every single e-mail, message, and phone call increases this burden. On the other hand, you can use the right tools to filter out most of the clear examples of attacks and save mental effort.
Modern filtering tools can help security teams identify and block obvious phishing attempts and suspicious communications. Templates and other campaigns sent en masse are some examples of attempts that can be filtered out before ever reaching employees. Other examples include known scam websites and phone numbers with bad reputations.
Email security gateways, anti-phishing tools, and security monitoring systems form the first line of defence against large-scale social engineering campaigns. These tools cannot filter out everything, so your strategy needs to contend with the vulnerabilities of your human employees.
3. Establish clear communication protocols
Design matters. Interfaces and user experiences influence secure behaviour. Simplify the interfaces in your "employee experience" to drive them to follow security protocols, and communicate them clearly to everyone.
Communication software is a major focal point here. Define and strictly enforce how legitimate communications occur within your organisation. If you have preferred tools such as Slack or Teams, make it clear: Nobody should expect business messages via any other messaging tool. Similarly, you might require that all financial requests — for example, a request to process a high-value invoice — be made face-to-face or through a specific channel.
By creating clear expectations about how authentic communications occur, you make it easier for employees to spot suspicious interactions that deviate from established norms.
4. Provide regular, relevant training
Security awareness should not be a one-time event, but an ongoing process. As business leaders and security professionals, we must keep training people on the new patterns and attacks we are seeing.
Start with events and experiences which happened inside your company as well as high-profile cases in the industry and the world. And focus your attention on employees who struggle with recognising threats. In my experience, the people who don’t know how to respond to these situations correctly are the ones who benefit most from repeated training.
A good analogy is first-aid training: if you can't follow the standard protocols for first aid from memory, a regular refresh (training) and clear reference material (instructions) will greatly help you when an event happens.
Additionally, train employees to manage their emotional responses, as attackers rely heavily on triggering panic or urgency. Make sure that everyone is trained to recognise an attack and empower them to respond calmly, since emotional responses tend to be the objective of the attacker. When someone feels pressured to act quickly without verification, it is often a sign of social engineering at work.
5. Address security fatigue
One of the biggest challenges in mitigating social engineering risks is combating security fatigue. The modern digital world constantly demands your attention. When your attention is limited, and you are not at your sharpest, some attacks can go unnoticed.
When protocols and procedures overwhelm your employees, they become more vulnerable. When procedures are cumbersome and get in the way, people find a way around them. Keep in mind the earlier point about design and user interfaces: Simplify the secure experience to reduce fatigue.
Streamline the security measures in your strategy wherever possible. Certain solutions are generally accepted in the security industry to reduce the success and ultimate impact of social engineering attacks. These solutions, ranked from simplest and most cost-effective (i.e., everyone should do it) to more advanced aspects of a mature corporate security program, are the following:
Multi-factor authentication, in which users are required to provide two or more verification factors before gaining access to a system;
Password managers, which generate, store, and auto-fill secure passwords across multiple accounts;
Single sign-on, which allows users to access multiple applications with a single central identity and credentials;
Conditional access evaluation, which bases access on contextual factors like location, device status, and user risk;
Zero-trust access, which requires strict authentication and authorisation checks for every person, device, or request.
6. Implement role-specific security training, especially for leadership
Executives and leadership also benefit from specialised security training. They hold positions of power or authority, and attacks often tend to impersonate them. Specific training is non-negotiable at the management level and above.
Leaders need to understand that inconsistent communication patterns create security vulnerabilities. The more consistent you are in communicating with other employees, the better they can differentiate an impersonation from a legitimate request.
Executives should follow the same security protocols as everyone else: exceptions create opportunities for attackers. If you are in a position of power, be aware of the impact you cause by not following a consistent form of communication.
7. Balance digital and physical security measures
While digital threats dominate discussions about social engineering, physical security remains important. When the cost of digital protections increases with the complexity of the threats they prevent, shifting the problem to the physical world can sometimes be a better alternative.
This is not to say that account recovery codes are safer on a Post-it note than in a digital password manager. However, in certain cases, storing a printed document in a locked vault in a building with registration protocols, badge access, and security guards can be more secure than uploading it to a public server that allows weak authentication. An attacker can social-engineer the credentials to the server and access the codes from across the world, but they would struggle getting past the reception desk of your building (or even reaching it!).
The natural barrier between the digital and the physical world makes some attacks more costly and complex for the attacker. Think critically about which methods are the most secure for your organisation and don't dismiss physical security as outdated or unimportant. Some organisations may benefit from a balanced approach combining digital and physical security measures to provide the most comprehensive protection for their risk appetite.
A layered approach to social engineering defence
Social engineering attacks exploit human psychology, and no single solution can provide complete protection. The key is implementing multiple layers of defence that address both technical and human vulnerabilities.
By establishing a security-conscious culture, deploying appropriate technology, maintaining consistent communication protocols, and providing targeted training, organisations can significantly reduce their susceptibility to social engineering attacks.
Remember that perfect security is impossible — the goal is to make your organisation a harder target than others. As attackers continuously evolve their techniques, stay vigilant and adapt your defences accordingly. The threat landscape will continue to change, but a commitment to fundamental security principles will provide lasting protection against those seeking to exploit human trust.
Luigi Pardey is a Security Engineer at Fourthline.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
