Assessing Security Weaknesses: A Penetration Testing Approach to Quid Pro Quo and Pretexting Tactics

Social Engineering refers to the manipulation of people into disclosing confidential information or performing actions that compromise security. As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, people become more susceptible to tactics like pretexting and quid pro quo techniques. This paper simulates these real-world scenarios with the aim of assessing how information can be extracted and exploited. With the use of hacking tools in Oracle VirtualBox for a controlled environment. The researchers mimicked the attack using the Social Engineering Toolkit to show the process. The results provide insights into the need for better defenses and digital education to train people to recognize and resist such tactics. The simulation demonstrated a successful attack however it is important to still consider that real-world scenarios would vary as there would be factors that could influence the attack.