Social engineering risks are keeping business leaders up at night! In the Business Continuity Institute 2018 Horizon Scan Report, four of the top 10 threats identified by business leaders are most often the result of a social engineering exploit. In a recent KnowBe4 report, over 91% of successful security breaches started with social engineering. Most leaders identify their top risks as cyber attacks, data breaches, unplanned IT outages, and security incidents, but at the end of the day, the number one cause of these risks is social engineering exploits of their staff.

"Social engineering, in the context of information security, refers to psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. A type of confidence trick for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or system access, it differs from a traditional 'con' in that it is often one of many steps in a more complex fraud scheme."

What should concern most business leaders is that social engineering exploits cannot be stopped by technology alone. This means that the continuity of every business relies heavily on the capability, knowledge, and skills of the employees and contractors of the organization. This includes everyone from custodial staff to the board of directors, as they all are given some level of trust by the organization.

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