Persuasion is a well-crafted process with the aim of getting a target ensnared in a trap where his or her decisions are directly influenced by the attacker. Social engineers stick to the following five aspects of persuasion:

• Having a clear goal: Persuasion comes from deep within and the social engineer must know at the beginning of an interaction with a target what the end goal is. In the previous chapter, NLP was discussed and the impact of the subconscious mind in the making of decisions was looked at. If the social engineer resolves to achieve something, the subconscious will also have that expectation and will assist in the attainment of that goal. With a clear outline of the goals, it is easier to plan ahead on how the interaction with a target will be controlled. It is also important for the social engineer to have a yardstick to measure...