## Psychology of Persuasion

Social Engineering hacks the *human*, not the machine.
Robert Cialdini defined 6 principles.

### 1. Authority
"I am the VP of IT. Do what I say."
*   People obey authority figures automatically.

### 2. Urgency / Scarcity
"Your account will be deleted in 1 hour."
*   Panic shuts down critical thinking.

### 3. Reciprocity
"I helped you with that ticket last week. Can you help me now?"
*   Social debt.

### 4. Liking
"Wow, you like the Yankees too?"
*   We trust people we like.

### 5. Social Proof
"Everyone else in the department has already done the survey."
*   Herd mentality.

### 6. Commitment
"Can you just answer one small question?" -> "Okay, verify your password."
*   Foot-in-the-door technique.