What is social engineering in the context of cybersecurity?

Social engineering in the context of cybersecurity refers to the practice of manipulating individuals into revealing confidential or sensitive information, often by exploiting human psychology rather than technical hacking techniques. This manipulation can take various forms, such as phishing emails, pretexting, or baiting, where the attacker establishes a false sense of trust or urgency to prompt the target to divulge personal data, passwords, or other confidential information.

The focus of social engineering is on the human element of security, recognizing that individuals can sometimes be the weakest link in an organization's defenses. By exploiting emotions like fear, curiosity, or the desire to help, attackers can bypass traditional security measures that would otherwise protect sensitive information.

Other options presented relate to different aspects of cybersecurity that do not involve direct manipulation of individuals. Creating software vulnerabilities deals with technical flaws in code that can be exploited, implementing robust network security protocols focuses on establishing security measures to protect data, and conducting risk assessments is concerned with evaluating the potential risks to an organization's assets. These areas are integral to cybersecurity but do not specifically pertain to the concept of social engineering, which centers on human interactions and psychology.