RT Article
T1 Enacting social engineering: the emotional experience of information security deception
JF Crime, law and social change
VO 77
IS 3
SP 341
OP 361
A1 Pimentel, Alexandra
A2 Steinmetz, Kevin F.
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1824505612
AB Social engineering is a modern form of fraud that is widely implicated in contributing to information security breaches. This study situates social engineering in past criminological work on fraud and analyzes qualitative interviews with social engineers to elucidate the emotional experiences of perpetrating such frauds. The results of this analysis indicate that social engineering interactions are characterized by an emotional experience of situational tension and the subsequent resolution of that tension. The analysis then turns to factors that modulate the quality and intensity of the emotional experience of social engineering perpetration. These factors include the social distance between the social engineer and the mark, the social engineer’s framing the mark, and both perceived and actual efficacy in utilizing skills involved in management of self and situation. This study suggests that the emotional experience of social engineering parallels that of other frauds and is revelatory of the motivations behind the experiences.
NO Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 359-361
DO 10.1007/s10611-021-09993-8