In cybersecurity, what is social engineering?

Social engineering is understood as a strategy where individuals are manipulated into revealing confidential information, such as passwords or personal identification details. This method relies heavily on psychological manipulation rather than technical hacking to gain sensitive data.

Typically, social engineers exploit human emotions and tendencies, such as trust, curiosity, or fear, to convince individuals to bypass security protocols. For instance, an attacker could impersonate a legitimate source, such as a bank or a tech support service, to obtain sensitive information directly from the target without the need for any technical hacking tools.

The other choices relate to different aspects of cybersecurity: encrypting data is a process that secures information through algorithms, protecting networks typically involves firewalls and intrusion detection systems, and malicious coding refers to harmful software designed to disrupt systems or steal information. However, none of these directly encapsulate the essence of social engineering, which fundamentally revolves around human interaction and manipulation.