Why Do We Click? Understanding the Psychology of Social Engineering

Social engineering is a technique used by attackers to manipulate individuals into performing actions that may put their personal or sensitive information at risk. Attackers know the biggest weakness in cybersecurity is humans—and with this, leverage socially engineered phishing emails to manipulate the human psychology. In this episode, we have Dr. Bob Hausmann, Learning and Assessment Architect, joining us to discuss the psychology behind user engagement with phishing. In this episode, we discuss the following: The Zone of Proximal DevelopmentWhat the Adaptive Learning Framework isWhere ethical lines should be drawn with phishing simulationsPsychology of social engineering in threat actor approachesAdditional resources: https://www.proofpoint.com/us/blog/security-awareness-training/adaptive-learning-framework-security-awareness-traininghttps://www.forrester.com/report/the-future-of-security-awareness-and-training/RES178339https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/telling-users-to-avoid-clicking-bad-links-still-isnt-workinghttps://twitter.com/threatinsight/status/1612888307645485086Daniel Pink Autonomy, Mastery & Purpose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbR2V1UeB_A&feature=youtu.behttps://www.proofpoint.com/us/blog/threat-insight/exploiting-covid-19-how-threat-actors-hijacked-pandemicStay Puft Marshmallow Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zhDfUAQSbs&ab_channel=Ghostbusters2023 State of the Phish Report: Publishing on February 28, 2023 on proofpoint.com