If we went back 15 years and looked up “Social Engineering,” it was defined as something malicious and manipulative. But as Chris Hadnagy studied psychology, influence, persuasion, and human decision-making, he saw that social engineering wasn’t always negative.
So Chris came up with a new definition: Human hacking, i.e. social engineering, is “Any act that influences a person to take an action that may or may not be in their best interest.” How social engineering is used defines if it is malicious or not.
So how do you employ social engineering? By following Chris’s 7 principles of elicitation. Learn more in this episode of Negotiations Ninja.