Unmasking the Social Engineer (eBook)

CHRISTOPHER HADNAGY is author of the best-selling book, Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking and professional social engineer who works with Fortune 500 companies. DR. PAUL EKMAN, PH.D., is the world's foremost expert on facial expressions and professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. Dr. Ekman's pioneering work in the field of nonverbal communication and visual lie detection was the inspiration behind the hit TV series Lie to Me, for which he acted as a scientific consultant. Dr. Ekman has also served as an advisor to police departments and anti-terrorism groups within the United States government, and is the author 13 books, including Telling Lies and Emotions Revealed.

Foreword xv

Acknowledgments and Preface xvii

Introduction xxi

I Building the Foundation 1

1 What Is Nonverbal Communication? 3

The Different Aspects of Nonverbal Communication 8

Kinesics 9

Proxemics 13

Touch 14

Eye Contact 15

Olfactics 16

Adornment 17

Facial Expressions 19

How to Use This Information 20

Summary 23

2 What Is Social Engineering? 25

Information Gathering 28

Pretexting 29

Elicitation 30

Rapport 30

Influence/Manipulation 32

Framing 33

Nonverbal Communications 34

The Three Basic Forms of Social Engineering 34

Become Phishers of Men 35

When The Phone Is More Dangerous Than Malware 39

I Am Not the Social Engineer You Are Looking For 43

Using Social Engineering Skills 45

The Good 46

The Bad 47

The Ugly 48

Summary 48

II Decoding the Language of the Body 51

3 Understanding the Language of the Hands 53

Communicating with Your Hands 55

Origin 57

Coding 57

Usage 58

High-Confidence Hand Displays 66

Low-Confidence and Stress Hand Displays 75

Getting a Handle on the Hands 78

Summary 79

4 The Torso, Legs, and Feet 81

Legs and Feet 83

Torso and Arms 89

Summary 97

5 The Science Behind the Face 99

Just the FACS 103

What Is a Truth Wizard? 105

Emotions versus Feelings 108

Fear 109

Surprise 113

Sadness 116

Contempt 121

Disgust 125

Anger 128

Happiness 132

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect 136

Summary 137

6 Understanding Nonverbal Displays of Comfort and Discomfort 139

Neck and Face Pacifying 143

What to Watch For 144

Mouth Covers 146

What to Watch For 147

Lips 147

What to Watch For 151

Eye Blocking 153

What to Watch For 154

Self-Comforting and Head Tilts 154

What to Watch For 157

Summary 158

III Deciphering the Science 159

7 The Human Emotional Processor 161

Introducing the Amygdala 164

How the Amygdala Processes Information 165

Hijacking the Amygdala 167

Human See, Human Do 169

Reading Other People's Expressions 170

Your Own Emotional Content 171

Nonverbal Social Proof 171

Using Amygdala Hijacking as a Social Engineer 172

Summary 174

8 The Nonverbal Side of Elicitation 177

Artificial Time Constraints 181

Sympathy/Assistance Themes 182

Ego Suspension 184

Ask How, When, and Why Questions 186

Conversational Signals 187

Action Unit 1: Inner Brow Raiser 188

Action Unit 2: Outer Brow Raiser 188

Action Unit 4: Brow Lowerer 189

Conversational Signals of Emotions 190

Breaking Down Conversational Signals 191

Batons 191

Underliner r 192

Punctuation 192

Question Mark 193

Word Search 193

Nonverbal Conversational Signals 193

Conversational Signals as a Social Engineer 195

Summary 196

IV Putting It All Together 197

9 Nonverbal Communication and the Social Engineer Human Being 199

Applying This Information as a Professional Social Engineer 202

Using This Book to Defend 206

Becoming a Critical Thinker 207

Summary 210

Index 213