The Science of Social Engineering with Chris Hadnagy

You may be shocked to know that master manipulators utilize special tactics to impact human behavior and emotions by more than just instilling a sense of urgency. The art of persuasion can be used for both good and evil. Today's guest is Chris Hadnagy. Chris is the author of five books on the topic of social engineering. He is a professor of social engineering at the University of Arizona as well as the CEO of Social Engineer LLC, the Innocent Lives Foundation, and the Institute for Social Engineering.

Show Notes:

• [0:57] - Chris shares his background and how he found himself in the field of social engineering and understanding human decision making.

• [2:38] - It is not the case that only stupid people fall for scams and phishing emails.

• [4:04] - There is good social engineering and Chris gives some examples.

• [5:47] - The release of oxytocin is researched to show that it is linked to trust.

• [7:58] - You can have oxytocin and dopamine separately but together they build a bond.

• [9:17] - Marketing and advertising land in the gray middle area of social engineering. Is it being used for good or bad?

• [11:14] - It is important to look at things through the lens of purpose. What is the intent behind it?

• [12:35] - All social engineering, good and bad, use the same principles. But malicious social engineering triggers different emotions, namely fear.

• [14:37] - Preying on fear is one way people are socially engineered, but Chris gives an example of how a company as large as Toyota was impacted by the sense of urgency.

• [17:12] - There are so many stories of social engineering that are extremely plausible and believable.

• [21:04] - The trend now is to use social media data and information to target people for spear phishing.

• [22:30] - If you feel any strong emotion after a request, it is a great time to pause and consider if you are being manipulated.

• [24:21] - If you ever fall for something, don't let embarrassment make you sweep it under the rug.

• [27:31] - The idea of an authority figure is a principle to remember, but it doesn't always work.

• [30:10] - In some countries, fear of authority isn't present. But social engineers will look for the weaknesses to exploit in different environments.

• [31:16] - Voice phishing is currently on the rise.

• [33:21] - Chris shares about the uptick on LinkedIn requests that even targeted the US military.

• [35:28] - Although we will see some good from AI, Chris has many concerns.

• [37:33] - Chris describes some of the classes he teaches at the University of Arizona specifically about Social Engineering.

• [39:17] - You can take classes online from Chris on Social-Engineer.com.

• [40:21] - We need to understand social engineering to keep our children safe. Start having conversations early.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.

Links and Resources:

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• Chris Hadnagy on LinkedIn

• Social-Engineer LLC

• Innocent Lives Foundation