What Is Social Engineering?

Social engineering, or the “con game,” is the art of manipulating end users into providing confidential or personal information. Below are the different types: 

1. Phishing: hackers pretend to be trusted organizations (banks, company suppliers, IT staff, mobile carriers, etc.) to get to your personal information, such as credit card details or confidential corporate information 
2. Piggybacking/Tailgating: This is when an unauthorized hacker physically follows an authorized employee into a restricted area (e.g. pass through locked doors) or uses their computer to access locked IT systems. 
3. Pretexting: hackers impersonate other trusted figures within an organization to gain your trust and manipulate you into providing personal/confidential information. 
4. Pharming: hackers re-create websites that look identical to the original but instead contain malware and/or key loggers to gain your personal information. The website URL will look very similar, although it may have a slight typo or a slightly different domain name. 
5. Social Media: similar to phishing, hackers will act as a trusted organization or friend and try to obtain your personal information through messages or get you to click malicious links through posts.