Most of us are naturally trusting people. When we pass someone on the street, we assume they don't mean us any harm. In fact, if we ask them for a small favor, they'd probably provide it. And for the most part, this is warranted. Very few people are criminals or manipulators, and most of us genuinely want to live a benevolent life, or at least a neutral one.

But some people specifically try to exploit this trusting nature. With the help of social engineering, they can get access to sensitive information and wreak havoc on your life or business, stealing your artwork, taking your money, or hijacking your digital presence.

How can you protect against it?

What Is Social Engineering?
Social engineering is a strategy used to exploit people. Through emails, vocal conversation, or even in-person interactions, a social engineer will lull you into a false sense of security, earning your trust and conditioning you to execute a certain behavior.

Usually, this takes the form of getting you to volunteer personal information or login credentials. It may also mean getting access to privileged areas, like the back of your art gallery.

Why Is Social Engineering a Threat?

Why is this such a threat
First, almost everyone is susceptible to social engineering, whether you realize it or not. You may think that you're above this type of scam, and that you would be too smart to fall for it, but this isn't always necessarily the case.

Second, social engineering can potentially ruin your business or ruin your life. If someone gets possession of a set of important login credentials, or if they manage to infiltrate your company with ransomware or other malware, it could cost you a lot of money and time.

Why You Should Take Social Engineering Seriously
It's tempting to take social engineering as a lesser, less significant form of fraud. But it's important to take seriously. One of the most important aspects of social engineering to realize is that anyone can be a social engineer. You don't need to be a master hacker, nor do you need to be a criminal mastermind; you just need to be willing to talk to people and win their trust temporarily.

How to Protect Yourself Against Social Engineering
Fortunately, there are many easy strategies you can use to protect yourself against social engineering:

· Never volunteer your username or password. You should never give out your login credentials to anyone. Social engineers often masquerade as legitimate companies or trustworthy people, prompting you to provide them with your login credentials. Never fall for this. No one from Microsoft, Apple, Google, or any other reputable company is ever going to ask you for your login credentials directly.

· Verify identities when possible. Always take the time to verify identities. If someone is talking to you on the phone, ask for proof that they work for the agency they say they work for; you can also hang up and call back at a number you know is reliable. If you're talking to someone in person, ask to see ID. Additionally, you should be checking URLs and links before clicking on anything suspicious or entering sensitive information.

· Click carefully. Always be cautious when clicking on a link in an email or any other context. Make sure you know exactly where the link is headed and that you trust the source of the link; otherwise, you could fall prey to a phishing scam.

· Don’t download suspicious files. By now, most people realize this, but never download suspicious files. This is one of the most common ways people get malware. Only download files from sources that you trust and only download files that you were expecting.

· Familiarize yourself with common tactics. Familiarize yourself with some of the most common social engineering scams and techniques. Once you know that these scams exist, they stick out like a sore thumb; you'll quickly realize that someone is working you, and you'll be able to sever ties before they do any damage.

· Create backup plans. It's also important to create some backup plans. If you do fall victim to a social engineering scheme, and you lose access to your most important art or data, do you have backups you can use?

Social engineering is a major threat, but it's an easily preventable one. If you want to protect your artwork, your business, and your personal livelihood, it's important that you take it seriously and enact protective measures to ensure you never fall victim to this type of scheme.

If you have people working for you, it's also important to train your employees on these basics, since even one weak link could spell trouble.