Social Engineering Deep Dive

Why social engineering works

It targets:

• trust
• authority
• urgency
• fear
• helpfulness

Technical defenses cannot fully stop human manipulation.

Common techniques

• phishing (email)
• smishing (text)
• vishing (voice)
• pretexting (fake story)
• MFA fatigue

Advanced patterns

• fake internal support calls
• impersonated vendors
• “quick favor” requests
• urgent policy violations

Teaching responsibly

Focus on:

• recognizing patterns
• verifying requests
• reporting early

Avoid:

• real brand impersonation
• humiliating examples

Activity

For each scenario:

• identify the psychological lever
• identify a safe response