phishing

Social Engineering: The Art of Hacking People

Social Engineering ISO 27001 Cybersecurity

    The human factor

    95% of successful cyberattacks begin with human error. There is no patch for trust. But there is a way to manage it.

    We can invest millions in firewalls, EDR and SIEM. But if an employee responds to a fraudulent email or scans a malicious QR code, that entire technical perimeter becomes irrelevant in seconds.

    Social engineering does not exploit software vulnerabilities. It exploits human vulnerabilities: urgency, authority, fear, curiosity and reciprocity. They are the same mechanisms that Kevin Mitnick perfected in the 1980s and that today’s attackers have automated at industrial scale with AI.

    Why technology alone is not enough

    95
    %
    attacks start with human error
    3.4
    B
    phishing emails per day in 2024
    17
    sec
    average time to click

    The most widely used techniques in 2025

    LLMs generate individualized emails with the target’s name, role and current project. The success rate of AI-powered spear phishing exceeds 70%.

    Calls impersonating the CEO’s voice to authorize urgent transfers. Real cases with losses of millions in minutes, without anyone suspecting.

    Malicious QR codes that bypass URL filters. The personal mobile phone, outside the corporate perimeter, is now the preferred entry vector.

    Building a real security culture

    Monthly cadence with immediate feedback reduces click rates by 64% over 12 months. Once a year does nothing.

    The CEO’s risk is not the same as the accountant’s or the technician’s. BEC attacks target finance; supply-chain attacks target technical teams.

    If employees are afraid to report that they have fallen for an attack, the organization loses critical response time. The culture of mistakes must be safe.

    Any urgent transfer or credential change should be verified through a different channel from the one used to receive the original request.

    Annex A includes specific awareness and training controls. It is not only technology: it is people and process management.

    African american hacker holding tablet to hack online system
    “You cannot patch human error with technology. But you can design systems that make it less likely and less costly.”
    Bruce Schneier, Secrets and Lies
    Fraud Scam Phishing Caution Deception Concept

    Do you know how ISO 27001 helps you prepare for new threats?

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