Social Engineering in the security world differs from social engineering within the social sciences, which does not concern the divulging of confidential information. A type of confidence trick for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or system access, it differs from a traditional “con” in that it is often one of many steps in a more complex fraud scheme.  It has also been defined as “any act that influences a person to take an action that may or may not be in their best interests.”

This Topic’s Work Products will be focused on an analysis of the Vendors that provide products and services related to protecting the Utility from these kinds of attacks.  The work is meant to both speed Utility action in this regard, but also to provide a context where the Utilities can focus more on Best Practices in this Topic area.

Protect Our Power has partnered with Lousiana Technical University to develop vendor comparisons and guidance for this Topic. Contact Erick Ford at EFord@ProtectOurPower.org for more information.