Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking

Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking covers the attack surface that no firewall or endpoint tool can patch: people. Christopher Hadnagy wrote it from direct experience running human hacking engagements, and this second edition updates his original work with newer tactics and case studies.

Hadnagy does not come from a traditional academic or certification background. He built his credibility through years of hands-on penetration testing focused specifically on human manipulation. He now teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona. The book carries an endorsement from the late Kevin Mitnick, whose own history divides opinion, but Hadnagy’s technical knowledge stands on its own.

The chapters walk through profiling people through communication, building rapport quickly, reading nonverbal cues, and constructing a believable pretext. The closing chapters turn practical, covering a mitigation and prevention plan any organization can use to reduce its exposure to these tactics.

This book reads like a field manual, not a theory text. Every technique Hadnagy describes is one an attacker is actively using somewhere right now, which is exactly why defenders need to know it.

Recommended for every security, compliance, and IT practitioner responsible for protecting an organization against social engineering. Anyone who trains employees on phishing awareness will find concrete material here worth building a program around.

Originally published in ISSA Journal’s "The Cyber Library" column, September-October 2025 issue, by Jay Carson, Semper Sec’s Cyber Librarian. Read more at issa.org.