Framework de contrainteligência em engenharia social: mitigando efeitos e aprimorando defesa

Abstract

Digital security has become a sensitive and central issue in today’s society, where human and technological interactions are increasingly frequent and complex. Among the emerging risks, social engineering stands out as a technique based on the psychological manipulation of individuals to gain unauthorized access to information or computer systems. This practice, which exploits human vulnerabilities, is widely applicable in both digital and physical environments and is used in various contexts to obtain illicit advantages. As a countermeasure, counterintelligence emerges—a set of strategies and practices aimed at mitigating the damage caused by social engineering actions, seeking to protect individuals and organizations from the exploitation of their behavioral weaknesses. This research aims to investigate the origins of social engineering and how it is applied, as well as to assess whether counterintelligence is effective in mitigating its effects. To achieve this, the study is grounded in a state-of-the-art analysis on the subject and proposes a set of countermeasures organized into conceptual frameworks, based on primary and secondary sources. Primary sources include academic works relevant to the fields of information security and social psychology, while secondary sources consist of news reports and articles from reputable media outlets that describe real cases of social engineering attacks. The methodology adopted is exploratory and qualitative in nature, focusing on case studies involving individuals and organizations that have been targeted by social engineering attacks, whether successful or not. Through these cases, the study seeks to understand the mechanisms used by attackers, the human factors exploited, and the effectiveness of the responses implemented. Based on this analysis, the proposed frameworks are tested and adjusted to reflect the real-world challenges of protecting against such threats. The results are expected to identify behavioral patterns exploited in victims, as well as vulnerabilities in the security practices of individuals and organizations. This will allow for an evaluation of the effectiveness of the suggested counterintelligence measures, contributing to the development of more robust prevention and response strategies against social engineering attacks. It is concluded that, given the increasing sophistication of threats based on the exploitation of the human factor, it is essential to develop and adopt counterintelligence practices as a strategic defense tool. This research thus aims to offer a relevant contribution to both academia and information security professionals, strengthening the debate and application of effective preventive measures in the context of contemporary digital security.