Social engineering can also take the form of the "engineer" requesting the wire transfer of monies to what the victim believes is a financial institution or person, with whom the victim has a business relationship, only to later learn that such monies have landed in the account of the "engineer."

"Social engineering" as an act of psychological manipulation had previously been associated with the social sciences, but its usage has caught on among computer professionals. Each of us is responsible for an organization’s data integrity. Human behavior is always the weakest link in a security program. Social Engineering | Encyclopedia.com Social engineering occurs in two forms: large scale and small scale. The debate surrounding these two approaches to the design of social institutions constitutes a … Social Media Marketing for Engineering Firms | New North Oct 27, 2017

This social engineering definition can be further expanded by knowing exactly how it works. How Does Social Engineering Work? Most social engineering attacks rely on actual communication between attackers and victims. The attacker tends to motivate the user into compromising themselves, rather than using brute force methods to breach your data.

Social engineering is rapidly advancing, so much so that the list of above techniques — all of which can wreak serious havoc — is becoming almost passe. Morawietz notes that having your personal information somehow compromised — whether by Facebook, Equifax or numerous other data-rich organizations — is fast becoming old hat.

Social engineering is a type of manipulation that coaxes someone into giving up confidential information such as a social security number or building access codes. Social engineering, in the world of information security, is a type of cyber attack that works to get the better of people through trickery and deception rather than technological exploits.