Ethical Hacking

14.4    Social Engineering Techniques

Social engineering techniques can be divided into three different categories:

• Human-based

• Computer-based

• Mobile-based

For each of these categories, there are a variety of attack vectors, which we will now explore. Let's start with human-based social engineering attacks.

14.4.1    Human-Based Social Engineering

In the human-based approach, attackers use direct contact with people to obtain information or manipulate their targets. This can be done through personal interactions, telephone calls, or other means of communication in which the attacker attempts to gain trust and deceive the victim. There are various human-based approaches in social engineering:

• In an impersonation attack, the attacker ...