Social Engineering in IT Security: Tools, Tactics, and Techniques

4	Planning Your Social Engineering Test

There was no such thing as luck. Luck was a word idiots used to explain the consequences of their own rashness, and selfishness, and stupidity. More often than not bad luck meant bad plans.

—Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged

Over the next few chapters we will look at how to plan, execute, and report on a social engineering test. The social engineering testing methodology presented here can be tailored for each test as no two social engineering assignments are the same. As with any project, the first step is the planning phase.

The key to running a successful social engineering assignment is in the planning. Although social engineering has been around for a long time, the concept of performing ...