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Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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ISBN: 0-471-23712-4 (cloth) ISBN: 978-0-470-24932-1 (paper)

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3

For Shelly Jaffe, Reba Vartanian, Chickie Leventhal, and Mitchell

Mitnick, and for the late Alan Mitnick, Adam Mitnick,

and Jack Biello

For Arynne, Victoria, and David, Sheldon,

Vincent, and Elena

Social Engineering

Social engineering uses influence and persuasion to deceive people by convincing them that the social engineer is someone he is not, or by manipulation. As a result, the social engineer is able to take advantage of people to obtain information with or without the use of technology.

foreword

We humans are born with an inner drive to explore the nature of our surroundings. As young men, both Kevin Mitnick and I were intensely curious about the world and eager to prove ourselves. We were rewarded often in our attempts to learn new things, solve puzzles, and win at games. But at the same time, the world around us taught us rules of behavior that constrained our inner urge toward free exploration. For our boldest scientists and technological entrepreneurs, as well as for people like Kevin Mitnick, following this inner urge offers the greatest thrills, letting us accomplish things that others believe cannot be done.

Kevin Mitnick is one of the finest people I know. Ask him, and he will say forthrightly that what he used to do—social engineering—involves conning people. But Kevin is no longer a social engineer. And even when he was, his motive never was to enrich himself or damage others. That’s not to say that there aren’t dangerous and destructive criminals out there who use social engineering to cause real harm. In fact, that’s exactly why Kevin wrote this book—to warn you about them.

The Art of Deception shows how vulnerable we all are—government, business, and each of us personally—to the intrusions of the social engineer. In this security-conscious era, we spend huge sums on technology to protect our computer networks and data. This book points out how easy it is to trick insiders and circumvent all this technological