An attacker calls the help desk claiming to be a senior manager and urgently requests a password reset. Which social-engineering technique is primarily being used in this scenario?
Pretexting
Shoulder surfing
Baiting
Tailgating
The scenario describes pretexting, where an attacker invents a believable back-story (the pretext) to convince a target to reveal information or perform an action, such as resetting a password. Tailgating focuses on physically following someone into a restricted area without authorization. Baiting lures victims with something enticing, like free media or gifts, to trick them into compromising security. Shoulder surfing involves directly observing a victim's screen or keyboard to steal credentials or other sensitive data. Because the attacker relies on a fabricated identity during a phone call, pretexting is the only technique that fits the example.
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