Which term refers to attacks involving psychological manipulation to trick users, including phishing, vishing, baiting, and tailgating?

• A. Shadow AI
• B. Staging Areas and Data Exfiltration
• C. Social Engineering attacks
• D. Stakeholders

Answer: (C)

The key idea here is that the attacker relies on manipulating people rather than exploiting technical weaknesses. These methods—phishing, vishing, baiting, and tailgating—all depend on tricking users into taking actions they shouldn’t, such as revealing passwords, clicking malicious links, or granting physical access. That broad category is called social engineering attacks, because it targets human psychology—trust, fear, urgency, curiosity—to achieve unauthorized access or information.

Shadow AI would imply hidden or unobserved AI behavior, which isn’t about deceiving people. Staging areas and data exfiltration describe how data is prepared and removed from a network, focusing on the mechanics of theft rather than manipulating individuals. Stakeholders are the people involved with a system or project, not a type of attack.