Training people to protect against common hacking techniques

In a broad sense, social engineering techniques have changed little over the years. The techniques have evolved and become more effective over time as attackers continue to hone their craft. However, the core techniques change little because they are effective.

The first thing to understand about social engineering is the techniques are not designed to exploit technology, they are designed to exploit people. Social engineering techniques depend on the study and exploitation of strong human emotions such as fear or hope. Effective social engineers study human psychology and try to implement techniques that will produce a predictable human response. They know how the human brain works and understand their victims are more prone to making mistakes if they are thinking quickly and relying on emotions or survival instincts to guide their actions rather than using the rational parts of their brain that can only be accessed...