Mitigating Social Engineering Risks: An Integrated Framework Concurrently Addressing Human Vulnerabilities and Technical Defences in Cybersecurity

Ibitowa, Oreoluwa Emmanuel (2024) Mitigating Social Engineering Risks: An Integrated Framework Concurrently Addressing Human Vulnerabilities and Technical Defences in Cybersecurity. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

Cyber security continues to be a key concern with growing use of social engineering techniques such as phishing, pretexting, baiting, and tailgating, exploiting psychological triggers such as trust, urgency, and fear, to attack humans. In an attempt to address both technical and human defences, this work introduces an integrated model for social engineering countermeasures. Analysing 154 real-life cases through qualitative analysis, the work identifies repeat attack patterns, psychological exploit mechanisms, and sector-specific vulnerabilities. Drawing a dataset from industry reports, academic studies, and case studies, the work underlines the importance of integration between technology and humans in countering social engineering threats. Composed of three principal pillars, namely, simulation training and awareness programs, multi-factor authentication and behaviour anomaly, and an organizational environment focused on cybersecurity awareness and governance, the proposed model aims to counter social engineering attacks through a balanced integration of humans and technology. Findings reveal that technology alone cannot suffice and must be supplemented with behaviour-related insights for a strong security stance. Emphasis is placed in the work for an inter-disciplinary model combining psychology, cybersecurity, and organizational behaviour for proactive countering of emerging social engineering attack techniques. AI-powered personalized training, real-time adaptability in security protocols, and larger datasets with emerging threats such as deepfake-related phishing must be researched in future studies.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Supervisors:	Name Email Aleburu, Joel UNSPECIFIED
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology Q Science > QA Mathematics > Electronic computers. Computer science T Technology > T Technology (General) > Information Technology > Electronic computers. Computer science Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology > Methods of research. Technique. Experimental biology > Data processing. Bioinformatics > Artificial intelligence Q Science > Q Science (General) > Self-organizing systems. Conscious automata > Artificial intelligence Q Science > QA Mathematics > Computer software > Computer Security T Technology > T Technology (General) > Information Technology > Computer software > Computer Security
Divisions:	School of Computing > Master of Science in Cyber Security
Depositing User:	Ciara O'Brien
Date Deposited:	23 Jul 2025 13:56
Last Modified:	23 Jul 2025 13:56
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/8214

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