Is Social Engineering a viable career option?

[thatmoney]

I am interested in becoming a social engineer and was wondering if its a viable career option? I was also wondering what schooling would I need? Social Engineering in its simplest terms is just manipulating ones target to get information and with that being said what classes would i take? Come to think of it I guess taking a few psychology classes would be to bad but, I have no idea what I would major in.

 

[COLGeek]

This is not a career path except for a used car salesman or a future felon. Seriously though, is this really your desired future?

There are no classes for such a path.

 

[USAFRet]

The career path you are looking for is "Marketing" or "Advertising", not 'Social Engineering'.

And you will be despised. I used to work with those people. Not fun.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Steal from rich people please

 

[thatmoney]

Yes it is. If it wasn't a viable career then why there be companies paying, security contractors come in and see if they can break into their company? Why are companies paying security contractors to come and educate their employes on social engineering or teaching them basic social engineering detection tactics if its not a viable career option? If its not a viable career path then why are people writing books on how to become a social engineer or why giving speeches on it?

 

[USAFRet]

Yes it is. If it wasn't a viable career then why there be companies paying, security contractors come in and see if they can break into their company? Why are companies paying security contractors to come and educate their employes on social engineering or teaching them basic social engineering detection tactics if its not a viable career option? If its not a viable career path then why are people writing books on how to become a social engineer or why giving speeches on it?

What you are describing is Security Info. Network Security, COMSEC, NETSEC, INFOSEC, HUMINT, etc, etc, etc...
Of which 'Social Engineering' is a small, but not insignificant, part.

Is it a single degree path? No.

 

[thatmoney]

hhhmmm, then what career path would include social engineering as well as the other types of security then?

 

[USAFRet]

hhhmmm, then what career path would include social engineering as well as the other types of security then?

Advertising/Marketing, or Computer/Network security all include aspects of 'Social Engineering'.

What do you want to do?

 

[thatmoney]

Computer/Network security

 

[USAFRet]

Computer/Network security

OK then...do that. 'Social Engineering' is but a part of that.

 

[manofchalk]

What your looking to be is a White Hat hacker, of the Kevin Mitnick strain I believe. This kind of career path doesn't really have classes around it, given the "barely-legal" status of it.
Take classes to learn about network security, how to code and things like that. At home, learn how to hack and gain access where you shouldn't (while somehow remaining on this side of the law) until someone pays you to get into their own system.

 

[thatmoney]

What coding language should i start learning then because I currently have a a lot of time on my hands? Should I start with JavaScript or some form of C? Are there any websites that teaching coding, any that you could recommend?

 

[COLGeek]

Try here: http://www.codecademy.com/

Many colleges and universities also offer free on-line computer programming classes as well.

C (and its derivatives) are certainly very popular. Learning Java can also help you understand the basics of software design.

 

[thatmoney]

Yeah just started learning Java. How hard can it be?

 

[USAFRet]

Yeah just started learning Java. How hard can it be?

Software development (and the security aspect) is far more than just knowing the syntax of a particular language.

 

[thatmoney]

I know that. The comment i made was made to be interpreted as a joke.

 

[USAFRet]

I know that. The comment i made was made to be interpreted as a joke.

I've heard that same comment made in all seriousness.

 

[thatmoney]

Wow, never had that happen here.

 

[Rayven2]

An old post but my 2 cents is that it will mainly benefit in security regions, more of a additional skill than a path.

 

[TomHardy]

Social Engineering is not an easy field. To understand people is one of the hardest things in the world. You need to study bit more to understand the nature of social engineering before making any final decision.