The history of the social engineering life cycle

Social engineering attacks are intricately linked to the evolution of human communication, and they increase as new ways of communication are used by humans.

In fact, the foundation of social engineering can be traced back to hundreds of years ago when individuals utilized deception and manipulation to gain advantage.

More recent examples include spies assuming false identities, using disguises, or employing persuasive tactics to gather information or achieve their objectives.

Over time, these attacks were perfected, and social engineering attacks became an art. This art is in constant evolution, and we have witnessed how these attacks evolve as technology evolves, from basic attacks of dumpster diving to more sophisticated attacks that now leverage the latest technologies such as the metaverse and even generative AI to better craft the attacks.

Now, as part of this evolution, social engineering attacks have grown in sophistication...