Premium
Weapons of Influence Misused: A Social Influence Analysis of Why People Fall Prey to Internet Scams[Note 1. The views expressed in this manuscript do not reflect ...]
Author(s) -
Muscanell Nicole L.,
Guadagno Rosanna E.,
Murphy Shan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
social and personality psychology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.699
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 1751-9004
DOI - 10.1111/spc3.12115
Subject(s) - reciprocity (cultural anthropology) , scarcity , the internet , internet privacy , consistency (knowledge bases) , order (exchange) , social engineering (security) , social media , psychology , element (criminal law) , computer security , criminology , social psychology , computer science , political science , business , law , world wide web , economics , finance , artificial intelligence , microeconomics
Internet crime, including fraud and spread of malicious software, is a pervasive and costly global issue. Many of these crimes occur not because of technology failure but because of the human element. People can easily be manipulated through social engineering – the use of psychological tactics to influence individuals to assist in their own victimization. We employ a social influence framework, drawing upon ideas from Robert Cialdini, to understand the nature of social engineering techniques and why they are successful in exploiting unsuspecting individuals. Specifically, we discuss how social engineers misuse six pervasive weapons of influence – Liking , Authority, Scarcity , Social Proof , Reciprocity , and Commitment and Consistency – in order to effectively influence individuals to take the initial steps toward their exploitation. We conclude with a discussion of the precautions individuals can take to resist malicious influence attempts online.