social engineer
Human hacking specialist
A social engineer manipulates people into divulging confidential information or performing actions that compromise security.
The term comes from computing and cybersecurity, where social engineering bypasses technical safeguards by exploiting human psychology—trust, helpfulness, fear of authority: The hacker posed as IT support to social engineer employees into revealing their passwords.
The verb form is to social engineer; the practice is social engineering.
Fraudulent credential harvesting
- vishingVoice-based identity theft
- pretextingDeceptive identity manipulation
- baitingDeliberately trying to provoke
- tailgatingFollowing another vehicle unsafely
impersonation · quid-pro-quo · dumpster-diving · smishing · whaling · piggybacking · pharming
Professional fraud perpetrator
- impostorOne feigning another's identity
- fraudsterCriminal deceiver for gain
- scammerOne who defrauds others
- tricksterCunning deceiver in myth
charlatan · swindler · grifter · hoaxer · pretender · masquerade · impersonation · disguise
Underhanded control of others
- persuasionConvincing through reasoning
- influencePower to affect others
- rapport-buildingDeveloping comfortable professional connection
- reciprocityMutual exchange of actions
urgency · scarcity · liking · commitment · consistency · flattery · elicitation · anchoring
Information-gathering before action
- rapport-buildingDeveloping comfortable professional connection
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- elicitationDrawing forth information
- name-droppingCiting connections for status
Authorized adversarial assessors
- defenseProtection against harm
- countermeasureDefense against a threat
- reconnaissanceInformation-gathering before action
- footprintingPre-attack information gathering
phishing
Fraudulent credential harvesting
- vishingVoice-based identity theft
- pretextingDeceptive identity manipulation
- baitingDeliberately trying to provoke
tailgating · impersonation · quid-pro-quo · dumpster-diving · smishing · whaling · piggybacking · pharming
con-artist
Professional fraud perpetrator
- impostorOne feigning another's identity
- fraudsterCriminal deceiver for gain
- scammerOne who defrauds others
trickster · charlatan · swindler · grifter · hoaxer · pretender · masquerade · impersonation · disguise · pretext
manipulation
Underhanded control of others
- persuasionConvincing through reasoning
- influencePower to affect others
- rapport-buildingDeveloping comfortable professional connection
reciprocity · urgency · scarcity · liking · commitment · consistency · flattery · elicitation · anchoring · framing
reconnaissance
Information-gathering before action
- rapport-buildingDeveloping comfortable professional connection
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- elicitationDrawing forth information
red-team
Authorized adversarial assessors
- defenseProtection against harm
- countermeasureDefense against a threat
- reconnaissanceInformation-gathering before action
- Online Manipulatorstroll, bot, shill, sock puppet, sockpuppet
- cybersecurityantivirus, malware, firewall, firewalls, encryption
- cybercriminalshacker, hackers, scammer, scammers, phishers
- Hackershacker, black hat, cracker, script kiddie, hacktivist
- security professionalssecurity analyst, security consultant, security researcher, security guard, security officer
- intrudersintruder, trespasser, invader, burglar, prowler
social engineerstraight shooter
Forthright, blunt person
honest broker · truth-teller · straight talker · open book · whistleblower
social, engineer, society, societal, socialize, socialization, socially, socialism, socialist