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              a small but useful guide to social engineering
              ------------------ by mechanic ---------------


        Okay, there are many texts about social engineering out there in the
vastness of the net, but I have done a little research on the topic, and 
decided to show you what I have learned.
        What is social engineering? The Hacker's Dictionary defines it as 
this:

Social Engineering: n.  Term used among crackers and samurai for cracking
techniques that rely on weaknesses in wetware rather than software; the aim
is to trick people into revealing passwords or other information that
compromises a target system's security. Classic scams include phoning up a
mark who has the required information and posing as a field service tech or a
fellow employee with an urgent access problem.

        This is correct, the term wetware refers to your mind, meaning you
have to use your brain actually for something. And social engineering cannot
be based upon scripts, as all people are different from one another, you have
to rely on what you know, what you know about the company/person, and your
own spark of creativity. 

         þÅþ A Few Tips To Social Engineer Your Way To Anything þÅþ

   -Find out everything you can about a person/company before trying to pry
    information out of them, the more you know, the more trustworthy you will
    seem, and this is one thing that you must be good at, getting people to
    feel they can trust you, and that you are really who you say you are.
   
   -A good way to get infomation on a company/person is to go trashing, 
    meaning rummaging through their trash to find out personal things. 
    Names, habits, kids, when they last went on vacation, bosses, love notes,
    etc.
    
   -BE CREATIVE! If you just follow examples and scripts, you will most 
    likely not get what you are after. 

   -Don't be afraid to engage in a little idle chit-chat here and there.
    It will make you seem more beliveable, talk about things that would
    interest the mark.

   -Remember this, giving people the opportunity to agree with you will make
    it easier for them to trust you. If you ask or say something that the 
    mark will agree too, it will make you seem that you can be trusted. This
    may seem odd, but it works, no matter what the situation.
    Maybe even start off with questions and comments both parties can agree
    on. Information that you are both familliar with makes easier subjects
    to agree on, and makes it easier to find out what the person is like, 
    thus giving you a chance to be even more creative. Helpful tips on a
    familliar subject to the mark will also increase trust and respect.

   -Showing some hint that you know what you are talking about, but not 
    sounding too prude and arrogant will also help.

   -A kind, familliar, everyday-joe type voice is better to use, thus making
    the mark feel more comfortable talking to you, rather than speaking in
    a gruff, hard voice, that will be intimidating to the mark.

   -When acting as a supervisor, boos, or whoever, just someone that is 
    supposed to have more senority within a comapny, be firm and sure of 
    yourself when asking for some information, a timid boss is a bad boss.
    I mean have you ever heard a sweet, forgiving boss try to yell at 
    someone? It just doesn't produce anything.


   
And that is all, I hope you found this informative and helpful, scince you    
must be creative to social engineer something from someone, I will leave it
to you, the possibilities that these tips can be used are limitless, unless
you have an un-imaginative and limited mind, then social eningeering is not
for you, and this file is worthless to you.

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                     þthis has been a txt from DMSþ