This paper examines the role and value of information security awareness efforts in defending against social engineering attacks. It categories the different social engineering threats and tactics used in targeting employees and the approaches to defend against such attacks. While we review these techniques, we attempt to develop a thorough understanding of human security threats, with a suitable balance between structured improvements to defend human weaknesses, and efficiently focused security training and awareness building. Finally, the paper shows that a multi-layered shield can mitigate various security risks and minimize the damage to systems and data.