Social Engineering and Influence Campaigns

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Social engineering

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Using social interactions and biases, such as relationships, persuasion, and body language, to gain access to secretive or personal information or persuade someone to perform an action.

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Authority in social engineering

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Acts as an authority figure to gain information, e.g., 'Don’t you know who I am?!' or 'This is the police!'.

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Intimidation in social engineering

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Uses fear, usually with the idea that there are repercussions if you do not comply, e.g., 'If you don’t comply, we will leak your password.'

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Consensus/Social Proof in social engineering

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Make it seem routine or as if everyone is performing the action, e.g., 'This isn’t the first time we’ve done this.' or 'Jose in IT did this for me last time.'

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Scarcity in social engineering

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Limited time/opportunity to get a prize or have a task completed, e.g., 'Respond before prizes run out!' or 'Prizes are limited'.

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Urgency in social engineering

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You must act now with no time to think about the outcome, e.g., 'Act now'.

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Familiarity/Liking in social engineering

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Someone you know or having common friends, e.g., 'John put me in touch with you'.

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Trust in social engineering

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Someone who is safe or simply performing their duty, e.g., 'I’m from IT. I’m being helpful, let me help you'.

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Influence campaign

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Seeks to shift public opinion on social issues, often on a massive scale and can utilize social engineering.