Human Factors in Social Engineering: Psychological Components and Profiling of Targets

This paper examines the psychological underpinnings of human susceptibility to social engineering, with a focus on identifying and analysing the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural components that contribute to target vulnerability. Integrating insights from cybersecurity studies and psychological theory, this research seeks to construct a nuanced understanding of how threat actors manipulate human factors to bypass security protocols. Through critical analysis of empirical studies, documented attack scenarios, and profiling literature, the study aims to determine the strongest factors that influence one’s susceptibility to becoming a victim, as well as understand the process behind a threat actor. The paper defines multiple categories of users that are deeply correlated to social engineering attacks and aims to establish an early methodology of determining one’s typology.