Social Engineering

The course consists of 8 lectures covering various aspects of Social Engineering (the main approach is based on the book Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking by Christopher Hadnagy; it is complemented with assorted other sources) and 4 practical labs/seminars. The participants will be divided into 4 groups, each group will be responsible for one lab (chooses the main topic, compiles a presentation and exercises/experiments done with the participation of other students), the main topic of each lab will be consulted with the lecturer beforehands. In addition, each participant is to write a 5-10 page paper on a freely chosen but course-related topic. The main topics of the course are:

1. Information gathering.
2. Elicitation.
3. Pretexting.
4. Psychological principles in SE.
5. Influence and persuasion.
6. Tools of SE.
7. Case studies and examples.
8. Prevention, mitigation and counters.

This course will be offered in the spring semester of the 2026/2027 academic year. The spring semester at TalTech runs from 1 February to 13 June 2027 (as indicated in the Start Date section). TalTech's timetables for the spring semester of 2027 will be published at the end of January at https://tunniplaan.taltech.ee.

After completing this course the student:

• knows the essence of Social Engineering and its common forms and techniques;
• recognizes Social Engineering attempts and act accordingly;
• has an overview of the measures to prevent Social Engineering involving technology, training and policy/regulations.

Final assessment can consist of one test/assignment or several smaller assignments completed during the whole course. After declaring a course the student can re-sit the exam/assessment once. Assessment can be graded or non-graded. For specific information about the assessment process please get in touch with the contact person of this course. For specific information about grade transfer please contact your home university

Ordinary computer/Internet skills and interest in cyber security will suffice. The course uses the university's MS Teams environment for most tasks, the students will need the Uni-ID identifier for access.

• Andress, Jason. The Basics of Information Security: Understanding the Fundamentals of InfoSec in Theory and Practice. Syngress, 2011.
• Contos, Brian T. Enemy at the Water Cooler: Real-Life Stories of Insider Threats and Enterprise Security Management Countermeasures. Syngress, 2006.
• Gragido, Will, and Pirc, John. Cybercrime and Espionage: An Analysis of Subversive Multi-vector Threats. Syngress, 2011.
• Gragido, Will, et al. Blackhatonomics: An Inside Look at the Economics of Cybercrime. Syngress, 2013.
• Hadnagy, Christopher. Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking. Wiley Publishing, 2011.
• Long, Johnny. No Tech Hacking: A Guide to Social Engineering, Dumpster Diving and Shoulder Surfing. Syngress, 2008.
• Long, Johnny, et al. Google Hacking for Penetration Testers. 3rd ed. Syngress, 2016.
• Mitnick, Kevin D., and Simon, William L. The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security. Wiley Publishing, 2003.
• Mitnick, Kevin D., and Simon, William L. The Art of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders & Deceivers. Wiley Publishing, 2005.
• Nissen, Thomas Elkjer. The Weaponization of Social Media: Characteristics of Contemporary Conflicts. Royal Danish Defence College, 2015. Available online: https://www.stratcomcoe.org/thomasnissen-weaponization-social-media

lectures, practices