Motivational and Psychological Triggers in Social Engineering

Abstract

Social engineering is a type of cybersecurity attack vector that depends on human interaction to manipulate individuals to perform certain actions or provide access to confidential information. The methods in social engineering can be very simple to convince individuals to reveal confidential information or data that can be used to cause a lot of damage to organizations and individuals. Social engineering is on the rise because individuals are almost always the weakest link when it comes to protecting confidential information or data. Cybercriminals that conduct social engineering exploit human psychology to have a higher chance of getting the information requested. This paper will demonstrate that social engineering depends on human psychology to be successful. First, this paper will discuss the methods cybercriminals use to conduct social engineering. Second, examine what motivates cybercriminals to conduct social engineering and the psychological triggers behind social engineering. Lastly, discuss trends and ways to defend against social engineering attacks.