Avoiding elicitation

There are many things that come into play when a social engineer tries to perform elicitation. There are some excellent tactics that can be employed to ensure that an elicitation attempt is successful. They range from buying the target some alcohol to flattering their egos.

Some of these tactics will be covered now:

Appealing to egos

Many people, especially those in senior positions, like to have their egos stroked. It is done to appeal to the target but it should be done carefully since it is also possible that a target will shut you off if it is overdone. A good way to do this is just to acknowledge the basic things and be subtle about it. For example, after a presentation, you may proceed to one of the presenters and tell him, What a nice presentation. I came here knowing nothing about this and now I feel like an expert. Such simple flattery is effective at starting a conversation with a target from where a social engineer can put the elicitation attempt in motion:

Conferences...