“Social engineering is using manipulation, influence and deception to get a person, a trusted insider within an organization, to comply with a request, and the request is usually to release information or to perform some sort of action item that benefits that attacker.”

American computer security consultant, author, and convicted hacker

Kevin Mitnick was an American computer security consultant and author, known as a convicted hacker. He was arrested in 1995 for computer and communications-related crimes, and later spent five years in prison after being convicted of fraud and illegally intercepting communications. His arrest, trial, and sentence drew controversy, along with the coverage that followed. After leaving prison, he worked in computer security, running Mitnick Security Consulting, LLC and taking part in other security businesses.