Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking

6.4. Manipulation: Controlling Your Target

Manipulation is considered by many to be a very dark topic, a topic that creates a sense of fear because of the way it is often portrayed.

Taking a look at a few definitions found on the Internet may help to explain:

"exerting shrewd or devious influence especially for one's own advantage"

"influence or control shrewdly or deviously"

"control (others or oneself) or influence skillfully, usually to one's advantage"

You can clearly see why many social engineers drool over this topic. Can you imagine being able to use your skills to control or influence someone to your advantage?

From something as dark as brainwashing to the subtle hints of a salesperson, manipulation tactics are something every social engineer should study and perfect. The aim of manipulation is to overcome the critical thinking and free will of their target. When the target loses his ability to make a decision based on informed processes, they can be fed the ideas, values, attitudes, or reasonings of the one manipulating them.

Manipulation is used in six ways that hold true whether the topic is brainwashing or something less insidious. I will quickly go through each one ...