Social Engineering - Christopher Hadnagy [77]
This is a key concept for social engineers because, as you investigate and analyze the new code, you will begin to see how it can be used to manipulate others. Before doing that, though, you need to understand the scripts that the new code uses.
Scripts in the New Code
People tend to have common problems, so groups of scripts have been developed to help therapists use NLP in their practice. These scripts lead the participant through a series of thoughts that help guide the person to the desired end. Several good books on NLP scripts exist, with The Big Book of NLP Techniques: 200+ Patterns & Strategies of Neuro Linguistic Programming being highly recommended.
An example of one script is an outline of how to increase your sales by getting someone to start talking about their dreams. Once you have them talking about certain goals or aspirations, you can posit your product or service as answering one of the needs to reach those goals. By positively building on your product as fitting a need they have, you give your potential sale’s brain a way to connect your product with positive sales.
If you take time to Google much of the information included here you will see that NLP can take on a life of its own. You can take many angles and paths when studying NLP. Despite all the plethora of information out there the question remains, how can a social engineer use NLP?
How to Use NLP as a Social Engineer
Many of the scripts and principles of NLP tend to lean toward hypnosis and similar avenues. Even though you will not use hypnosis to social engineer a target, you can use many of the principles of NLP as a social engineer. For example, NLP can teach you how to use your voice, language, and choice of words to guide people down the path you want.
Voice in NLP
You can use your voice to inject commands into people just as you would use code to inject commands into a SQL database. The way you say things is where the injection occurs; this single moment of injection is framed within regular conversation. Sometimes how you say something is more important than what you say.
NLP promotes the use of embedded commands to influence a target to think a certain way or take a certain action. Also, using the tones of your voice to emphasize certain words in a sentence can cause a person’s unconscious mind to focus on those words. For example:
For instance, ask “Don’t you agree?” Instead of putting an upswing on the word “agree,” like you would normally at the end of a question, put a downswing to make the question more of a command.
Another one I have heard used effectively is, “My customers usually do the things I say. Do you want to begin?” The way that sentence is used and surrounded by other statements can make this a very commanding statement.
More on this in the next section, but this skill alone can change the way you interact with others; the principles for it are steeped in NLP.
Sentence Structure
In English, the sound of the person’s voice at the end of sentence indicates whether what is being said is a question, statement, or command. A person’s voice goes up at the end of a sentence for questions. The voice stays the same through the end of the sentence in statements, and the voice lowers at the sentence close for commands.
For the next few paragraphs, the bold font denotes to lower (deepen) your voice tone.
Try this exercise: When you ask a question such as, “Is that your dog?” your voice will rise at the end of that sentence. Yet you can embed subtle commands into sentences by just changing them to a downward point during the sentence, not at the end. Here are a few simple commands for you to practice. Notice how they have the command injected inside the sentence.
“Remember how clean your room looked last Christmas?” The embedded command is “clean your room,” which includes a time shift to a happier time. This