Social Engineering Blogs

An Aggregator for Blogs About Social Engineering and Related Fields

Testimonials: The Right Way and the Wrong Way

Nothing supercharges lead generation and sales quite like social proof. One study published in the Wall Street Journal noted that social proof was more influential in changing behavior than the prospect of saving money. Content Marketing Leaders Spill on Using Testimonials Effectively Tim Paige of LeadPages.net produces a fascinating podcast about digital marketing effectiveness called […]

Elicitation Techniques

Elicitation is a valuable tool when collecting information. I like it especially because it is so hard to detect and so easy to use.

1. Avoid asking too many questions

Asking too many questions in a conversation can turn off your target. He’ll start to suspect you want something from them and will stop talking to you. You instead just say your questions as comments and then stop talking. Your target will then likely respond to your comment and won’t feel interrogated.

2. Provocative statements

Saying something provocative to your target can provide you with loads of information. If he agrees with you he’ll elaborate, if he disagrees with you he’ll start to defend himself while disclosing confidential information.

3. False statements

People have a strong tendency to correct false statements. You can take advantage of this by deliberately making false statements about the thing you want to collect information about. Works better with some people than another.

4. Disbelief

When you question your targets statement he’ll provide more information to get your approval. You can use a third person as a source of the criticism to prevent damaging the relationship with your target.

5. Flattery

Everybody want to hear compliments, you can use this to open up your target to provide more information to you. Can be used with any of the techniques above.

The post Elicitation Techniques appeared first on Social Engineering.

The Happy Secret to Better Work

We believe that we should work to be happy, but could that be backwards? In this fast-moving and entertaining talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that actually happiness inspires productivity.

Shawn Achor is the CEO of Good Think Inc., where he researches and teaches about positive psychology. He is the author of The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work.