This is actually a very interesting debate.<\/p>\n
Just to introduce if you don’t know..<\/p>\n
What is Penetration Testing<\/strong><\/p>\n A penetration test is a method of evaluating the security of a computer system or network by simulating an attack by a malicious cracker. The process involves an active analysis of the system for any weaknesses, technical flaws or vulnerabilities. This analysis is carried out from the position of a potential attacker, and can involve active exploitation of security vulnerabilities. Any security issues that are found will be presented to the system owner together with an assessment of their impact and often with a proposal for mitigation or a technical solution.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n What is Social Engineering<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s a bit cheesy, but we often call this hacking the wetware (hardware, software and wetware meaning people).<\/p>\n Social Engineering is a form of intrusion making use of weaknesses in the non-technical aspects of the system, the wetware also known as people. A common phrase would be ‘Con man’, the most well-known form of social engineering. In the technological realm, social engineering relates to unauthorized access of computing resources or network by exploiting human weaknesses.<\/p>\n In the historical sense, con men would engineer their way into certain resources, someone’s bank account, shoe box under the bed and so on. In this context, the social engineer would target someone that is authorized to use the network or resource they wish to access and attempt to leverage some confidential information out of them that would compromise the network security.<\/p>\n This is what Mitnick was famous for, and what his book The Art of Deception<\/a> is about.<\/p>\n