The art of manipulating people to divulge sensitive information to use it to perform malicious action is known as what?

• A. Urgency
• B. Social engineering
• C. Phishing
• D. Scarcity

Answer: (B)

Social engineering is the practice of exploiting how people think and behave to obtain confidential information or access. Rather than breaking in with software hacks, the attacker persuades or pressures a person into divulging passwords, security questions, or other sensitive data by impersonating someone trustworthy, creating a false sense of urgency, or offering something tempting. This is why this option fits—the term describes the overall manipulation of people to achieve malicious goals.

Phishing is a common technique used within social engineering, typically delivered via email or messages to trick victims into revealing credentials. Urgency and scarcity are psychological tactics that can appear within social engineering campaigns, but they are not the overall discipline themselves.