Human Factor or Social Engineering

Typically, cracking activities include not only some degree of technological prowess but also human factor skills, known as social engineering. Simply put, even at the very basic level, a cracker needs to “social engineer” a computer system or another human being into thinking that he or she is the system administrator or a legitimate user. “Human factor engineering” and “social engineering,” therefore, are general terms used to describe how crackers manipulate a social situation to gain access to a network for which they are not authorized. This access could be permanent or temporary and could even employ as part of the scheme an organizational “insider.” Putting on a janitor’s outfit and pretending to be allowed access to a computer network would be one example of a low-end “human factor” or “social engineering” technique.

See Also: Computer; Cracking; Social Engineering; Social Engineering Techniques.