Social Engineering
Manipulating a person, rather than software, into giving up access or funds.
Social engineering is an attack that targets a person's trust, urgency, or lack of awareness rather than a technical flaw in software, tricking them into taking an action that compromises their security.
Phishing is one common form of social engineering, but the category also includes impersonation, fake support requests, and other tactics designed to manipulate someone into revealing sensitive information.
Examples
- Someone posing as customer support and asking for a seed phrase is using social engineering.
- Creating a false sense of urgency is a common social engineering tactic used to bypass careful thinking.
Learn more
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