Social Engineering Assessments and Testing Services

manipulating

Social engineering is a form of attack where threat actors manipulate people—rather than systems—to gain access to sensitive data, credentials, or internal resources. These attacks often involve phishing emails, vishing calls, or in-person deception to trick employees into granting unauthorized access.

Social engineering assessments simulate these types of attacks in a controlled environment to help your organization identify gaps in awareness and response. By engaging a third-party firm like Artifice Security to conduct realistic testing, you can evaluate how susceptible your staff is to deception and where additional security training is needed.

what we do

Artifice Security delivers comprehensive social engineering assessments that combine human interaction and technical deception to test your organization’s security awareness. We offer advanced phishing simulations to evaluate employee response to electronic threats, as well as physical social engineering to assess your onsite personnel’s ability to detect unauthorized access attempts.

Each engagement is fully customized to reflect your organization’s structure, industry, and risk profile, ensuring a realistic and valuable test of your people and processes.

tepes of attacks

Social engineering remains one of the most exploited attack vectors. According to the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, social engineering attacks account for 70%–90% of all successful data breaches. These attacks are more effective than traditional hacking because they exploit human psychology instead of technical vulnerabilities.

Recognizing and testing against these techniques is critical. Artifice Security’s social engineering testing services help organizations proactively identify weaknesses in employee behavior and security awareness.

01. Phishing

Phishing involves sending emails that appear to come from trusted sources to trick employees into revealing credentials, financial data, or other sensitive information. It’s the most common form of social engineering.

• Spear Phishing – Targets specific individuals or departments. Attackers research the target to craft believable, personalized messages.

• Whaling – Aimed at high-value targets such as executives, CEOs, or financial officers. These attacks are often used to initiate fraudulent wire transfers or access sensitive company assets.

02. Vishing and Smishing

• Vishing (voice phishing) uses phone calls or voicemails to impersonate trusted sources like tech support, banks, or law enforcement. Attackers apply pressure or fear tactics to extract credentials or financial data.

• Smishing (SMS phishing) uses deceptive text messages instead of email. These messages often contain malicious links or fake login pages to harvest user information.

03. Pretexting

Pretexting is when an attacker creates a believable scenario or false identity to manipulate an employee into revealing confidential data or performing unauthorized actions. Common pretexts include posing as IT support, auditors, or executives.

04. Tailgating and Piggybacking

These are physical social engineering techniques that exploit trust or distraction to gain unauthorized building access.

• Tailgating – The attacker slips in behind an employee without their knowledge, often catching the door before it closes.

• Piggybacking – The employee is aware but allows access out of politeness (e.g., holding the door for someone with their hands full).

05. Baiting

Baiting involves leaving infected USB drives or media devices in visible locations, hoping someone picks one up and plugs it in. Once connected, the device installs malware or grants remote access to attackers.

06. Quid Pro Quo

Quid pro quo attacks offer a fake service in exchange for access. A common example is a fake tech support call where the attacker offers help and tricks the victim into providing login credentials under the guise of troubleshooting.

methodology

01

Define the Scope

Before launching the social engineering assessment, Artifice Security will work closely with your team to define the engagement scope. This includes identifying the type of social engineering testing—whether you’re targeting electronic, physical, or both—and aligning the goals with your organization’s risk profile and industry.

We will help you:

• Select the appropriate testing approach: phishing simulation, onsite social engineering, or a hybrid model

• Identify users, locations, or systems that are in-scope or excluded from testing

• Confirm testing dates and timelines

• Establish rules of engagement, such as no-go areas or sensitive environments

02

Information Gathering / Reconnaissance Phase

During this phase, our consultants perform passive reconnaissance using Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) techniques to uncover data that attackers could use in real-world scenarios. This phase lays the foundation for a highly realistic, targeted assessment.

Our reconnaissance may include:

• Gathering domain names and subdomains tied to your organization

• Searching for publicly exposed documents (PDFs, DOCXs, XLSXs, PPTs) that may contain sensitive metadata or employee details

• Monitoring dark web and breach data repositories for leaked credentials

• Identifying lookalike or spoofed domain names to assess phishing risk

• Researching employee roles and locations via LinkedIn and other platforms

03

Pretext Creation

Using intelligence from our recon phase, Artifice Security will craft realistic pretext scenarios tailored to your company’s brand, culture, and operations. These scenarios are used to simulate highly convincing phishing emails, social calls, or onsite intrusions designed to test employee resistance and awareness.

Each scenario is unique and aligned with:

• Your industry (e.g., finance, healthcare, government)

• Public-facing services and common employee workflows

• Common third-party services or portals used in your daily operations

04

Exploitation Phase

This is the execution phase, where our red team consultants deliver real-world social engineering attacks under controlled and approved conditions.

Electronic Social Engineering

• Deliver phishing emails with company-branded landing pages that simulate real logins

• Track opens, link clicks, and submitted credentials

• Measure how employees respond to suspicious communications

Physical Social Engineering

• Attempt physical access via tailgating, piggybacking, lockpicking, badge cloning, and door bypass techniques

• Identify failures in front-desk security, signage, access control, and surveillance

• Evaluate how staff challenge or report suspicious individuals

05

Reporting Phase

Artifice Security delivers actionable, evidence-based reporting after the assessment is complete.

Your report will include:

• A clear executive summary describing high-level results and risk

• A timeline of social engineering events, user interaction data, and success rates

• A breakdown of employee behavior and response during phishing or physical tests

• Proofs-of-concept showing how deception was used to gain access

• A list of positive findings highlighting where defenses performed well

• Remediation guidance tailored to your environment for improving awareness, controls, and policies

We also provide:

• A customer-facing report suitable for executive leadership or clients

• An attestation letter to demonstrate testing was performed by a qualified third-party provider

FAQ