How is social engineering best defined?

Social engineering is best defined as a technique to deceive individuals into revealing sensitive information. This method hinges on manipulating human psychology rather than exploiting technical vulnerabilities in systems or software. A social engineer may pose as a trusted entity or use various tactics such as urgency or fear to convince an individual to provide confidential data, such as passwords or personal identification information.

This definition captures the essence of social engineering, which relies heavily on interpersonal interactions and understanding human behavior. Social engineers exploit the natural tendency of people to trust others or to overlook security checks in favor of convenience, making the technique particularly effective in various fraud scenarios.

The other choices do not accurately characterize social engineering. Hiding near a target involves physical tactics that are unrelated to the deceptive human interaction that social engineering entails. Searching data for sensitive information refers more to data mining or forensic analysis, rather than interpersonal deception. Lastly, bypassing security using undocumented functions relates to technical hacking rather than social manipulation. This distinction highlights why the correct definition focuses specifically on deception and human interaction in social engineering practices.