Email Hackers Manipulate Employees Through Social Engineering
Have you ever received one of those emails that just struck you as off? Perhaps it appeared official — an urgent email from your CEO, a billing notice from IT, a password reset that just seemed… off. But you clicked anyway.
That’s social engineering at play. And it’s a hacker’s ultimate weapon for penetrating even the most effective firewalls, servers, and security gateways. Because at the end of the day? The weakest link is people in the cybersecurity field.
What is Social Engineering?
I’ve been in the field of this long enough to have seen every kind of attack on the plane. Slammer worm? Dealt with it firsthand. Phishing scams in the 2000s? Knocked the networks out right and left. And now? Social engineering is how hackers gain access to business systems primarily, literally walking all over the advanced AI-powered security solutions don’t get me started on those.
Social engineering is just what it sounds like. It’s attacking people and not systems. Convincing someone to:
- Click a malicious link.
- Give up login credentials.
- Click on a malicious attachment.
- Authorize a fictitious payment request.
And they do it through manipulation. Fear. Urgency. Trust. Whatever works. Because your company’s network won’t be breached with some whiz-bang zero-day exploit. It’s via your employees’ inboxes.
Common Tactics Used
And most of the methods used in social engineering attacks follow a similar blueprint:
- Impersonation – The hacker acts as if he or she is someone that the victim knows for example, the CEO, HR, or IT department.
- Urgency — They induce panic: Your account has been hacked! Reset now!
- Trust Exploitation — The request looks totally legitimate — possibly from an actual email thread.
- Demand Action – Use this Link. Send this payment. Approve this login. The quicker, the better.
Let’s unpack the most deadly email-oriented systems that I have personally observed:
1. Business Email Compromise: BEC
Hackers have accessed or spoofed the corporate email of someone and then send bogus payment requests. Had read this one too many times — especially in banking.
Real World: One such financial firm we worked with, had a CEO’s email spoofed. The victim requested a “high-priority” wire to accounts payable. They had made off with nearly $500,000 before they discovered it.
2. Phishing & Spear Phishing
You’re already familiar with phishing — fake emails that seem legitimate. Spear phishing? That’s when they give it to you personalized.
I once observed an attacker constructing an email that mimicked a supplier invoice. The victim absolutely didn’t hesitate — paid it without question. Funds into the hacker’s bank account.
3. Credential Harvesting
An unassuming “password reset” email. You click the link, log into your account — bam, they have your credentials.
Worst case I’ve seen? One fake O365 login leads to entire law firm internal email being compromised.
4. Malware via Attachments
You receive an invoice, a PDF or a “secure document” that prompts you for a password. The moment you do? Malware deploys. Keyloggers, remote access trojans, ransomware, you name it.
Training Employees & Prevention
Here’s the thing — you can’t patch people up.
Security hardware? Firewalls? Cloud protections? Those are great. However, social engineering attacks are completely outside the realm of IT security. The only real defense? Training.
Every employee, from your intern all the way up to the CFO, should understand:
- Never trust blind urgency. Hackers want you to act fast. Pause. Verify.
- Always check email senders. One letter typed incorrectly in an email address? That’s a red flag.
- Hover before you click. If a link seems fishy — do not click.
- Use MFA multi-factor authentication. Because even when a hacker knows your password, MFA blocks them out.
- Revalidate payments & sensitive requests A telephone call can save your company millions.
I’ve seen teams with no understanding at all of email security move through to becoming phishing-resistant ninjas simply by exposure to real-world methods.
PJ Networks’ Security Awareness Solutions
But here at PJ Networks, we don’t simply run penetration tests and firewalls though we certainly do this as well. We train employees — because they’re your last line of defense.
Our training includes:
- Active phishing simulations – As the saying goes, the best way to learn is through experience.
- Real threat examples – We provide examples of how hackers do it.
- Incident response drills — So workers know how to respond, quickly.
- Zero-trust integration – That verify everything, trust nothing is how you prevent these types of attacks.
Last year we were contacted by three different banks that had fallen for social engineering schemes. Our first move? They are ramping up their email security training alongside their zero-trust upgrades. The difference? Night and day.
Conclusion
At this point, I’ve watched too many companies fall prey to the same old tricks.
Social engineering is not new — just smarter now. Attackers are more patient. More convincing. More believable. And the best safety solution is an alert workforce.
So, before you believe that next email? Take a second look. Because trusting you is the hackers’ winning strategy.
Stay secure,
Sanjay Seth
Cyber Security Consultant, PJ Networks Pvt Ltd