Psicologia por trás dos ataques de engenharia social

Abstract

Social engineering is a set of techniques used to manipulate people, taking advantage of their psychological and social vulnerabilities, in order to obtain confidential information or carry out fraudulent actions. This study aims to analyze the psychological aspects involved in social engineering attacks. The research included a literature review and a questionnaire administered to students of the Information Security, Data Science, and Systems Analysis and Development courses at UFC, Jardins de Anita Campus. The results revealed that 81.6% of the interviewees consider social engineering an essential topic for the area of information security and believe that it should be addressed in more depth. This data reinforces the need to review and update academic curricula, including approaches that go beyond technical security and encompass psychological and behavioral factors. Based on these findings, one of the main recommendations of this study is the implementation of more immersive educational strategies, such as attack simulation laboratories, where students can experience, in practice, the tactics used by social engineers and develop more effective defense techniques. Furthermore, the creation of institutional awareness campaigns can significantly contribute to the dissemination of knowledge about the risks of social engineering, both within and outside the academic environment.