Social Engineering
Manipulating people, rather than technical systems, into divulging confidential information or taking harmful actions.
Social engineering↗ is the practice of manipulating people, rather than exploiting technical systems, into divulging confidential information, granting access, or taking an action that helps an attacker. It relies on psychological tactics like urgency, authority, fear, or trust rather than any technical hacking skill.
Phishing↗ emails, phone scams impersonating tech support or a bank, and an attacker simply talking their way past a receptionist are all forms of social engineering. Because it targets human psychology rather than a technical flaw, no firewall↗ or antivirus↗ software can fully defend against it, awareness, healthy skepticism, and having clear verification procedures for sensitive requests are the real defenses.