Factors influencing human vulnerability to social engineering attacks; Presenting a conceptual model

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Islamic azad university

2 islamic azad university

Abstract

Social engineering attacks are a serious security threat to any country. Hackers, spy agencies, governments, rival organizations, profiteers, etc. can use social engineering to achieve their goals. What distinguishes social engineering from other methods of deception is that in social engineering, human vulnerabilities are the key to success. This paper proposes a conceptual model that provides a structural and comprehensive view of how social engineering attacks work. The three factors of impact mechanism, human vulnerability and attack method are effective in understanding how social engineering attacks are carried out and their effects. Mechanisms of action that include six dimensions (persuasion, social impact, cognition and attitude and behavior, trust and deception, language and thought and decision, feelings and decision-making) and human vulnerabilities that include six dimensions (cognition and knowledge, Behavior and habit, feelings and emotions, human nature, personality traits and individual characteristics) were discussed. Finally, 23 social engineering attacks were presented to show how these mechanisms, vulnerabilities and attack methods are used to successfully carry out social engineering attacks.

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