What describes manipulative tactics used to trick individuals into divulging confidential information?

What describes manipulative tactics used to trick individuals into divulging confidential information?

• A. Shoulder surfing
• B. Brute force
• C. Phishing
• D. Social engineering

Answer: (D)

Social engineering is about manipulating people into revealing confidential information by exploiting trust, urgency, or other psychological triggers. It describes tactics that trick someone into disclosing passwords, account numbers, or security questions by posing as a trusted person or entity, creating a convincing pretext, or baiting a response. A common example is phishing, where deceptive messages lure users into entering credentials or clicking malicious links; this is a specific technique within the broader approach of social engineering. The other options are not about manipulating individuals: shoulder surfing involves physically watching someone type a password, which is a surveillance tactic rather than a deceptive social tactic; brute force is a technical method of guessing passwords through many attempts, not manipulating a person to reveal information. So the best description is social engineering, because it captures the range of human-centered tricks used to obtain sensitive data.

Social engineering is about manipulating people into revealing confidential information by exploiting trust, urgency, or other psychological triggers. It describes tactics that trick someone into disclosing passwords, account numbers, or security questions by posing as a trusted person or entity, creating a convincing pretext, or baiting a response. A common example is phishing, where deceptive messages lure users into entering credentials or clicking malicious links; this is a specific technique within the broader approach of social engineering. The other options are not about manipulating individuals: shoulder surfing involves physically watching someone type a password, which is a surveillance tactic rather than a deceptive social tactic; brute force is a technical method of guessing passwords through many attempts, not manipulating a person to reveal information. So the best description is social engineering, because it captures the range of human-centered tricks used to obtain sensitive data.