What does the term "social engineering" usually involve?

What does the term "social engineering" usually involve?

• A. Creating software vulnerabilities
• B. Manipulating individuals into divulging confidential information
• C. Employing technical hacks to gain access
• D. Using bots to automate attacks

Answer: (B)

The term "social engineering" primarily involves manipulating individuals into divulging confidential information. This technique relies on psychological manipulation rather than technical skills to exploit human behavior. Social engineers often create scenarios that build trust or urgency, persuading individuals to share sensitive data such as passwords, personal information, or access credentials. For example, a social engineer might pose as a trusted figure, like a company IT administrator, and ask an employee to confirm their password for "security purposes." By leveraging trust and emotion, the social engineer effectively bypasses traditional security measures that protect against unauthorized access. This highlights the importance of cybersecurity awareness and training to identify and resist such manipulative tactics. In contrast, creating software vulnerabilities, employing technical hacks, or using bots to automate attacks all pertain to different aspects of security breaches that utilize technical methods rather than manipulating human behavior directly.

The term "social engineering" primarily involves manipulating individuals into divulging confidential information. This technique relies on psychological manipulation rather than technical skills to exploit human behavior. Social engineers often create scenarios that build trust or urgency, persuading individuals to share sensitive data such as passwords, personal information, or access credentials.

For example, a social engineer might pose as a trusted figure, like a company IT administrator, and ask an employee to confirm their password for "security purposes." By leveraging trust and emotion, the social engineer effectively bypasses traditional security measures that protect against unauthorized access. This highlights the importance of cybersecurity awareness and training to identify and resist such manipulative tactics.

In contrast, creating software vulnerabilities, employing technical hacks, or using bots to automate attacks all pertain to different aspects of security breaches that utilize technical methods rather than manipulating human behavior directly.