Ethical Hackers use many principles of social science, especially the social engineering part. White, grey, and black hat hackers all use psychology and sociology to deceive and trick people into giving up sensitive information. One of the biggest weaknesses in cybersecurity is humans, not the technology. Hackers can exploit the human factor better than anyone else. Social science is an integral part of what hackers do.

What do hackers do?

            Hackers look for system flaws or serious vulnerabilities. Ethical hackers work for business to keep them safe; they are also considered white hat hackers. According to social-engineer.org, ethical hackers are necessary for safe business. “For instance, during 2018, ethical hackers found software vulnerabilities that averted crises in ten major companies” (Ethical Hackers: Filling a Vital Role in Society). The opposite of white hat hackers are black hat hackers. These hackers hack with malicious intent and engage in illegal activity. The hackers most of the time use social engineering to trick people into giving them information. “Social engineering is the art of manipulation and misdirection” (Poston 1). This quote explains what social engineering is. Phishing and vishing you get are excellent examples of social engineering. Hackers’ usage of social engineering has great danger towards the human factor in cybersecurity.

The Psychology behind Social Engineering

            Psychology is a huge part of social engineering. Scammers use this heavily on vishing scams. “Actually, they are hoping to find you while you are experiencing the heavy emotional toll of these problems. They know that if you are suffering you are more likely to make a bad decision” (). This quote explains what scammers look for when scamming people. These scammers try to trigger strong emotions, expecting you to make a wrong decision due to those emotions. According to Amy Arnsten, “It is both pernicious and ironic that chronic stress can lead to impulsive action; in many clinical cases, such as drug addiction, impulsivity is likely to worsen patterns of behavior that produce the stress in the first place, inducing a vicious cycle” (Hadnagy 13). Amy Arnsten proves that stress and certain emotions leads to bad decision making. We should look about the emotional state of the victims when we think of scams. Most of them are stressed, anxious, and depressed. All these emotions can lead to poor decisions, letting the scammers win. Any online attacks like vishing are bound to happen more often, due to the rise of technology. Scammers knowing a little bit of psychology helps make their social engineering skills better than ever.

Conclusion

Hackers use social engineering and social science to scam innocent people online. These hackers include malicious, black hat hackers, grey hat hackers, and ethical, white hat hackers. Hackers and scammers both love to get their hands on sensitive information, leaving humans to be the biggest target. They also happen to be the most liability in a company. These malicious foes use social science to wreak havoc on innocent lives online every day.

Bibliography

Hadnagy, C. (2021, February 3). Social Engineering and Psychology. Psychology Today. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/human-hacking/202102/social-engineering-and-psychology

Poston, H. (2021, December 3). Ethical hacking: Social Engineering Basics. Infosec Resources. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/topic/ethical-hacking-social-engineering-basics/

Social-Engineer. (2022, January 26). Ethical hackers: Filling a vital role in society. Security Through Education. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://www.social-engineer.org/newsletter/ethical-hackers-filling-a-vital-role-in-society/