Doors are a lot easier to walk through when someone invites us in. Most security architectures have been built to prevent the uninvited guests from entering the target network, but what happens when attackers fool inside users into opening the door and letting them in? Attackers often pretend to be someone they are not, such as someone with authority or a family member, to gain a victim's trust. When they are successful, users might have given up passwords, access credentials, or other valuable secrets. There are stories about famous hackers who have been able to obtain intellectual property just by asking for it with a smile.

There are many tools that are available in Kali Linux to assist with a social engineering campaign; however, the most successful attacks are based on understanding your target audience and abusing their trust. For example, we have obtained sensitive information using fake accounts on social media sources such as LinkedIn and Facebook, which didn't...