--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: 'Social engineering,' the fancy term for…" description: "\"'Social engineering,' the fancy term for tricking you into giving away your digital secrets, is at least as great a threat as spooky technology.\" — Bar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/barton-gellman-3126_away_social-engineering-the-fancy-term-for-tr_2064083.jpg" --- # 'Social engineering,' the fancy term for tricking you into… ![“'Social engineering,' the fancy term for tricking you into giving away your digital secrets, is at least as great a threat as spooky technology.” quote by Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/barton-gellman-3126_away_social-engineering-the-fancy-term-for-tr_2064083.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/barton-gellman-3126_away_social-engineering-the-fancy-term-for-tr_2064083.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/barton-gellman-3126_away_social-engineering-the-fancy-term-for-tr_2064083.jpg) > “'Social engineering,' the fancy term for tricking you into giving away your digital secrets, is at least as great a threat as spooky technology.” [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Social engineering exploits human trust to steal digital information, posing a threat comparable to advanced technology. **In simple terms:** Manipulating people is as dangerous as high‑tech threats. Key Takeaway Strengthen human awareness and safeguards. Themes security human factors cyber threats Mood alert defensive Type educational strategic When to use this quote - corporate IT - online banking - personal data protection Key Concepts trust exploitation phishing social manipulation Questions to Reflect On - How can organizations train employees against manipulation? - What policies reduce human‑based vulnerabilities? A Different Perspective Technology can also mitigate these risks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/away/) [Digital](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/digital/) [Digital Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/digital-secrets-3951876/) [Engineering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engineering/) [Engineering Fancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engineering-fancy-3951878/) [Fancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fancy/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great/) [Hacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hacker/) [Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social engineering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-engineering/) [Spooky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spooky/) [Spooky Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spooky-technology-3951875/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Threat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/threat/) [Threat Spooky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/threat-spooky-3951877/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) [Your](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your/) ## Related quotes > [We live in a world of diverse cultures, and we know very little about social engineering and how to 'build nations.' And when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-nye/we-live-in-a-world-of-diverse-cultures-and-we-know-very-little-about/) [Joseph Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-nye/) > [ “ Worldwide Long Range Solutions Special Interest Group \[ ¤ SIG AeR.WLRS 253787890.546\]. Space Colonization Subgroup. Open discussion board. 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Parents and the general public must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-goodlad/enlightened-social-engineering-is-required-to-face-situations-that-2/) [John Goodlad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-goodlad/) > [Enlightened social engineering is required to face situations that demand global action now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-goodlad/enlightened-social-engineering-is-required-to-face-situations-that/) [John Goodlad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-goodlad/) > [“The conservatives could sneer about "social engineering" if they wanted, but I thought that most people believed as I did that government should embody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/the-conservatives-could-sneer-about-social-engineering-if-they-wanted/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [Government has ceased to mean upholding and reinforcing the traditional rights and morals of the governed; it now means compulsion in the service of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/government-has-ceased-to-mean-upholding-and-reinforcing-the/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [Hey, if I had my choice for social engineering, I'd declare an automatic R-rating for any movie that depicts television commercials. There's a truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-herskovitz/hey-if-i-had-my-choice-for-social-engineering-i-d-declare-an/) [Marshall Herskovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-herskovitz/) > [“Consider the telling expression ‘pay attention.’ Attention, as I see it, is the original currency. If you look closely enough at this divine sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-luckman/consider-the-telling-expression-pay-attention-attention-as-i-see-it/) [Sol Luckman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-luckman/) ## More by Barton Gellman > [On March 12, 2004, acting attorney general James B. 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Anybody who has the reins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/i-doubt-there-s-any-government-in-the-world-that-guides-itself/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [U.S. intelligence services routinely use collection methods against foreigners that foreseeably - with certainty - ingest high volumes of U.S. communications as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/u-s-intelligence-services-routinely-use-collection-methods-against/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [Snowden is an orderly thinker, with an engineer's approach to problem-solving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/snowden-is-an-orderly-thinker-with-an-engineer-s-approach-to-problem/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [Experts said public companies worry about the loss of customer confidence and the legal liability to shareholders or security vendors when they report flaws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/experts-said-public-companies-worry-about-the-loss-of-customer/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [The United States, a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, destroyed the last of its stocks of VX and other chemical agents on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/the-united-states-a-signatory-to-the-chemical-weapons-convention/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [As Trotsky didn't exactly say, you may not be interested in electronic snoops, but snoops are interested in you, whether or not you keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/as-trotsky-didn-t-exactly-say-you-may-not-be-interested-in-electronic/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [You don't need to be a spook to care about encryption. 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