Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking

Foreword.

1 A Look into the World of Social Engineering.

Why This Book Is So Valuable.

Overview of Social Engineering.

Summary.

2 Information Gathering.

Gathering Information.

Sources for Information Gathering.

Communication Modeling.

The Power of Communication Models.

3 Elicitation.

What Is Elicitation?

The Goals of Elicitation.

Mastering Elicitation.

Summary.

4 Pretexting: How to Become Anyone.

What Is Pretexting?

The Principles and Planning Stages of Pretexting.

Successful Pretexting.

Summary.

5 Mind Tricks: Psychological Principles Used in Social Engineering.

Modes of Thinking.

Microexpressions.

Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP).

Interview and Interrogation.

Building Instant Rapport.

The Human Buffer Overflow.

Summary.

6 Influence: The Power of Persuasion.

The Five Fundamentals of Influence and Persuasion.

Influence Tactics.

Altering Reality: Framing.

Manipulation: Controlling Your Target.

Manipulation in Social Engineering.

Summary.

7 The Tools of the Social Engineer.

Physical Tools.

Online Information-Gathering Tools.

Summary.

8 Case Studies: Dissecting the Social Engineer.

Mitnick Case Study 1: Hacking the DMV.

Mitnick Case Study 2: Hacking the Social Security Administration.

Hadnagy Case Study 1: The Overconfident CEO.

Hadnagy Case Study 2: The Theme Park Scandal.

Top-Secret Case Study 1: Mission Not Impossible.

Top-Secret Case Study 2: Social Engineering a Hacker.

Why Case Studies Are Important.

Summary.

9 Prevention and Mitigation.

Learning to Identify Social Engineering Attacks.

Creating a Personal Security Awareness Culture.

Being Aware of the Value of the Information You Are Being Asked For.

Keeping Software Updated.

Developing Scripts.

Learning from Social Engineering Audits.

Concluding Remarks.

Summary.

Index.