social engineering

noun

1

: management of human beings in accordance with their place and function in society : applied social science

2

: social methods (such as phishing) that are used to obtain personal or confidential information which can then be used illicitly

The previously noted trend of switching from social engineering to hacking methods in attacks on organizations strengthened …

—San Fernando Valley (California) Business Journal

social engineer noun

plural social engineers

Examples of social engineering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Threat actors, for example, are using generative AI to automate and tailor their attacks via social engineering schemes, increasing both the effectiveness and scope of the attack. —Raghu Bongula, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2025

Treasury said Iran used social engineering to access people with direct access to the presidential campaigns of both parties, something the U.S. warned was happening earlier this year. —Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 31 Dec. 2024

Unfortunately, many of these scams rely on social engineering rather than malware to bypass antivirus detection. —Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 30 Dec. 2024

As soon as passkey adoption poses a meaningful hurdle in account takeovers, threat actors will devise hacks and social engineering attacks that exploit this shortcoming. —Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 30 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1899, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

social engineering

noun

1

: management of human beings in accordance with their place and function in society : applied social science

2

: social methods (such as phishing) that are used to obtain personal or confidential information which can then be used illicitly