j...@trillian.mit.edu wrote: > It sort goes along with http://xkcd.com/538/, > though the details are all rather different. > > The name for the general concept seems to be > "social engineering" these days.
Actually, no, the xkcd comic depicts "rubber-hose cryptanalysis": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber-hose_cryptanalysis It's similar to social engineering in that a technical attack is not being performed on the cryptography, but social engineering is the art of extracting secrets by manipulating people, often without their awareness, rather than using coercion. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_%28security%29 -Tom -- Tom Metro The Perl Shop, Newton, MA, USA "Predictable On-demand Perl Consulting." http://www.theperlshop.com/ _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
