Please Write 350-Word Essay. Social Engineering Is The Art ✓ Solved

Please write 350 words essay. Social engineering is the art

Please write 350 words essay. Social engineering is the art of manipulating people so they give up confidential information. The types of information these criminals are seeking can vary, but when individuals are targeted the criminals are usually trying to trick you into giving them your passwords or bank information, or access your computer to secretly install malicious software - that will give them access to your passwords and bank information as well as giving them control over your computer. Explain a scenario where you or someone you know may have unknowingly given too much personal information to a stranger. How could this situation been avoided? Reference Article Link:

Paper For Above Instructions

Introduction

Social engineering leverages psychology, trust, and routine to induce individuals to disclose confidential information or perform actions that compromise security (Hadnagy, 2018). Attacks range from phishing emails and fraudulent phone calls to in-person impersonation and tailored scams that exploit publicly available personal details. This paper describes a realistic scenario in which someone unknowingly revealed too much information to a stranger, analyzes why the deception succeeded, and outlines practical prevention strategies informed by current guidance and research (Mitnick & Simon, 2002; CISA, 2021).

Scenario: The "Bank Verification" Call

My friend "Sara" received a well-crafted phone call that appeared to be from her bank. The caller used the bank's name, sounded professional, and referenced the last four digits of her debit card — information the attacker had harvested from a previous data leak and a social media post. The caller warned of "suspicious transactions" and requested verification of identity. Under stress and fearing frozen accounts, Sara provided her full card number, expiration date, and her online banking password. The attacker immediately initiated unauthorized transfers before Sara could react. By the time she contacted the real bank, her accounts were compromised.

Why It Worked

This attack combined several effective social-engineering techniques: authority (posing as a bank representative), urgency (threat of immediate loss), and pretexting (a plausible story supported by partial accurate data) (Cialdini, 2007; Hadnagy, 2018). Attackers increasingly use bits of truthful information gathered from breaches or social media to increase credibility (Verizon DBIR, 2023). Psychological pressure reduces victims' likelihood of performing verification steps that would reveal the scam (Workman, 2008).

Prevention: How This Could Have Been Avoided

Several measures could have prevented Sara’s loss:

  • Verify independently: Hang up and call the bank using the official number printed on the back of the card or from the bank’s official website rather than numbers provided during the call (NIST, 2017).
  • Limit data exposure: Avoid posting identifiable financial details or excessive personal information on social media. Threat actors correlate such details across sources to craft believable pretexts (Ablon, Libicki, & Golay, 2014).
  • Never share credentials: Legitimate institutions will never ask for full passwords or PINs over unsolicited calls or emails. Treat any such request as a red flag (CISA, 2021).
  • Use multi-factor authentication (MFA): MFA can prevent unauthorized logins even if passwords are stolen (Microsoft Security, 2020).
  • Security awareness and rehearsed responses: Training and personal rules (e.g., “I never give account numbers on unsolicited calls”) reduce the chance of impulsive disclosure (Hadnagy, 2018; Verizon DBIR, 2023).
  • Call-back policies for organizations: Organizations should adopt call-back verification procedures when customers report suspicious outreach (NIST SP guidance).

Broader Recommendations

Organizations and individuals should combine technical controls (MFA, anomaly detection, transaction alerts) with human-focused defenses like regular phishing simulations and clear public guidance on verification steps (Krombholz et al., 2015). Minimizing publicly exposed personal identifiers—birthdates, full addresses, and family names—reduces material attackers use to impersonate someone credibly (Ablon et al., 2014).

Conclusion

Social engineering remains a top cause of data compromise because it targets the human element rather than technical vulnerabilities (Verizon DBIR, 2023). The described scenario shows how a combination of urgency, partial truth, and authority can overcome caution. Simple behaviors—independent verification, refusing to disclose credentials, restricting public data, and enabling MFA—greatly reduce risk. Consistent education and organizational safeguards ensure individuals are less likely to respond to manipulative tactics and more likely to detect and block social-engineering attempts (Hadnagy, 2018; CISA, 2021).

References

  • Hadnagy, C. (2018). Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking. Wiley. (Discusses psychological techniques underlying social engineering.)
  • Mitnick, K. D., & Simon, W. L. (2002). The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security. Wiley. https://www.wiley.com/ (Classic text on social-engineering tactics and defenses.)
  • Verizon. (2023). 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR). Verizon. https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/ (Empirical analysis of breach causes, including social engineering.)
  • CISA. (2021). Social Engineering: Recognize, Report, and Reduce Risk. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. https://www.cisa.gov/ (Guidance for recognizing and preventing social-engineering attacks.)
  • NIST. (2017). NIST Special Publication 800-63B: Digital Identity Guidelines. National Institute of Standards and Technology. https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-3/sp800-63b.html (Guidance on authentication and identity proofing.)
  • Ablon, L., Libicki, M. C., & Golay, A. A. (2014). Markets for Cybercrime Tools and Stolen Data: Hackers’ Bazaar. RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/ (Analysis of how stolen data is traded and used.)
  • Krombholz, K., Merkl, D., & Schmiedecker, M. (2015). Advanced Social Engineering Attacks. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security (ARES). https://doi.org/10.1145/ (Research on contemporary social-engineering techniques.)
  • Workman, M. (2008). Wisecrackers: A Theory-Grounded Investigation of Phishing and Pretexting. Computers & Security, 27(7-8), 327–341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2008.08.003 (Empirical study on why phishing works.)
  • Microsoft Security. (2020). Protect accounts with multifactor authentication. Microsoft. https://learn.microsoft.com/security/ (Practical guidance on MFA and account protection.)
  • Cialdini, R. B. (2007). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Revised Edition). Harper Business. (Foundational work explaining principles like authority and urgency used in social engineering.)

Related Assignments