social engineering

A deceptive process in which crackers “engineer” or design a social situation to trick others into allowing them access to an otherwise closed network, or into believing a reality that does not exist. To crack computer systems, crackers often employ their well-honed social engineering skills. A robust sample of social-engineering case studies can be found in Kevin Mitnick’s book The Art of Deception.

Social engineering can also be used in noncyber-related crimes. A 2005 case involved a 39-year-old U.S. woman by the name of Anna Ayala, who filed a complaint to police in March saying that a human finger was in the chili bowl she purchased from a San Jose Wendy’s fast-food outlet. The police, believing that the complaint was a hoax after they investigated the claim, eventually discovered that the finger belonged to a man who lost his finger in an industrial accident in December 2004. He gave his finger to Anna’s husband, who gave it to Anna. Anna apparently “social engineered” a fake reality and was convicted of filing a false claim and of grand theft and sentenced to nine years in prison. The Wendy’s company offered a $100,000 reward for information regarding the claim, for it said that the crime cost it millions of dollars in sales. Apparently, the company had to lay off dozens of employees at the San Jose worksite because business there was harmed.

See Also: Crackers; Human Factor and Social Engineering; Mitnick, Kevin (a.k.a. Condor).