Social Engineering, 2nd Edition

6Under the Influence

The secret of my influence has always been that it remained secret.

— SALVADOR DALI

This chapter covers both influence and manipulation, but for now, I want to focus on influence. How do you define influence?

I define it as “getting someone to want to do what you want them to do.” This means that the person has the idea to do what you want them to, or at least that is the way they will remember it. Because the person perceives the idea as his or her own, it is a great idea, and the person is committed to it.

One of the greatest minds in history on this topic is Dr. Robert Cialdini. He has been researching, writing about, and perfecting the art of influence for decades now. In episode 86 of The Social-Engineer Podcast, I was privileged to have Bob, as he asked to be called, on the show. It was one of the most fascinating conversations I have had, and one that I learned so much from.

Bob wrote a book, which I still use today, titled Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (William Morrow and Co., 1984). In it, he discusses six principles of influence that are definable, teachable, and trackable. As part of my practice, I have broken Bob's six principles into eight principles.

In this chapter, I first define these eight principles as they have been researched and studied by great minds like Dr. Cialdini. I follow the definition of each principle by tying each to social engineering.

After my discussion of each principle, I talk about framing, which is closely ...