Social engineering is a manipulation technique that exploits human psychology and emotions, rather than technical vulnerabilities, to trick people into revealing sensitive information or performing actions that compromise their security. In the context of cybersecurity, it is an especially dangerous threat because it relies on human error, which is less predictable and harder to thwart than a malware-based intrusion.

• Financial losses: Companies can suffer major financial losses due to stolen funds, data breaches, and ransomware attacks. For instance, a BEC attack could cost businesses an average of $130,000, and could even run into millions. Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks caused $2.77 billion in losses in 2024 alone.
• Data breaches: Social engineering attacks are frequently the initial access vector in data breaches, leading to the exposure of sensitive data. 60% of social engineering attacks resulted in data exposure, which is 16 percentage points higher than other types of attacks.
• Reputation damage: Successful social engineering attacks can significantly harm a company’s reputation and erode customer trust, especially when sensitive data is lost.
• Business disruption and lost productivity: Attacks can disrupt operations, cause downtime, and require significant resources to investigate, respond to, and mitigate the damage.
• Legal and regulatory consequences: Failure to protect sensitive data due to a social engineering attack can lead to lawsuits, fines, and penalties.