TLPT (Threat-Led Penetration Testing): Objective and Methodology
In a context where cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated, targeted and persistent, traditional security approaches are reaching their limits. I...
What is Social Engineering Penetration Testing?
A social engineering penetration test aims to simulate realistic attacks based on employee manipulation. The goal is to identify human weaknesses, including risky behaviours, inadequate internal procedures and a lack of cybersecurity awareness.
These exercises can take various forms, such as a phishing campaign (fraudulent emails), a smishing campaign (malicious text messages), a vishing campaign (phone calls) or even an attempted physical intrusion. Each scenario is designed to replicate credible attack vectors tailored to your organisation's context.
At the end of the penetration test, a detailed report presents the scenarios carried out, the attack vectors that resulted in compromise, and an analysis of the behaviours observed. Concrete recommendations are then provided to strengthen your human and organisational security posture.
Tests Carried Out During a Social Engineering Penetration Test
Our auditors replicate real-world attacker tactics to manipulate individuals and circumvent technical security measures.
They leverage their expertise in cybersecurity, communication and social psychology to identify human weaknesses within the organisation and assess employees’ ability to detect and resist manipulation attempts.
To achieve this, we design and execute sophisticated scenarios, including:
- Phishing, either mass or targeted (spear phishing), aimed at enticing employees to click on malicious links, download attachments or disclose sensitive information.
- Vishing (voice phishing), where our auditors call employees directly, impersonating an employee, a service provider or an authority to obtain access or confidential information.
- Smishing (SMS phishing), involving the sending of text messages containing fraudulent links or urgent requests.
- Physical intrusions, consisting of entering premises to access workstations, confidential documents or network equipment.
Phishing and Spear Phishing Campaign
A phishing campaign simulates an email-based attack designed to trick users into disclosing sensitive information or taking risky actions, such as clicking on a malicious link or downloading an infected attachment.
These attacks exploit trust, urgency or curiosity, and typically take the form of fraudulent emails that mimic legitimate communications.
They can be conducted at scale or in a targeted manner (spear phishing) to assess employees' ability to detect and resist such attacks.
Vishing Campaign
A vishing (voice phishing) campaign assesses employees’ vigilance when faced with fraudulent phone calls. The attacker impersonates a legitimate authority (an employee, a service provider, a bank or a public body) to obtain sensitive information or privileged access.
This type of scenario helps assess employees’ ability to verify the caller’s identity and to apply internal procedures when faced with social or hierarchical pressure.
Smishing Campaign
A smishing campaign (SMS phishing) simulates malicious text messages designed to trick users into clicking on a link, downloading an app or disclosing confidential information. By exploiting the immediacy and personal nature of the mobile channel, these attacks often create a sense of urgency to pressure users into taking action.
This type of test helps assess employees’ vigilance when using both work and personal devices. It also raises awareness of best practices for verifying requests, such as exercising caution with unexpected messages and using official channels to confirm them.
Physical Intrusion
Physical intrusion tests aim to assess an organisation's ability to protect its premises and equipment against determined attackers. Auditors attempt to gain unauthorised access to the premises by exploiting human or organisational weaknesses, such as doors left ajar, tailgating, impersonation (technician, delivery person, visitor) or weak access control measures.
These exercises measure the robustness of physical security measures, as well as staff responsiveness to suspicious behaviour. They highlight the critical role of internal procedures and human vigilance in protecting sensitive information and systems.
Types of Social Engineering Penetration Tests
Social engineering penetration tests can be conducted using several approaches, which vary depending on the level of information provided to our auditors. Each of these approaches has advantages and allows different threat levels to be simulated.
Black box social engineering penetration testing
In a black box approach, our auditors have no prior information (employees, organisational chart, tools or internal security policies). They act like a real external attacker, starting from scratch to identify opportunities for exploitation using social engineering techniques.
Grey box social engineering penetration testing
Grey box pentesting combines an external approach with partial access to information. Our auditors are provided with limited data by the organisation: a list of employees, internal services, communication diagrams, and even sample emails.
White box social engineering penetration testing
In a white box approach, our auditors have access to a wealth of information provided by the organisation. This may include a detailed organisational chart, internal processes, the tools used by teams, security policies, and examples of internal communications. This level of knowledge enables us to devise highly targeted social engineering scenarios.
Social Engineering Penetration Testing Methodology
Human and technical reconnaissance
Like any penetration test, a social engineering pentest begins with a reconnaissance phase. The goal is to gather as much information as possible using publicly available sources (OSINT). This may include analysing professional social networks, online documents, domain names, or mapping teams and service providers. This step helps build credible scenarios grounded in the organisation’s day-to-day operations, in order to maximise their realism and impact.
Scenario development
Based on the information gathered, our auditors design scenarios tailored to the organisation’s context and business challenges. Each simulated attack has a specific objective: to obtain a password, encourage the download of a file, or gain physical access to a building. Scenarios can take the form of phishing (mass or targeted), fraudulent phone calls (vishing), malicious text messages (smishing), or physical intrusion.
Execution and results analysis
The scenarios are then executed in real-world but controlled conditions to simulate attacks without causing harm. Phishing campaigns, for example, measure open rates, click-through rates and data submission rates; vishing calls assess the disclosure of sensitive information; physical intrusions reveal the robustness of access control measures. Analysis of the results highlights human and organisational vulnerabilities, as well as employees’ ability to report and respond to suspicious situations.
Reporting
Finally, a clear and detailed report summarises all results: objectives, scenarios carried out, statistics, identified vulnerabilities and prioritised recommendations. Beyond the written report, a debriefing session with stakeholders helps contextualise the findings, answer questions and define concrete actions. The approach aims above all to strengthen human and organisational resilience, transforming the testing experience into a powerful awareness tool and a driver for continuous improvement.
CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS
About vaadata
Conduct a Social Engineering Penetration Test with Vaadata, a Certified Offensive Security Expert.
Choosing Vaadata for your social engineering pentest means working with a company certified to the most demanding standards in the industry. Vaadata is CREST, ISO 27001/27701 and PASSI certified, which demonstrates the quality of our offensive security audits and our compliance with the most rigorous cybersecurity and data protection standards. These certifications provide our clients with a reliable, methodical approach aligned with industry best practices.
Our social engineering penetration tests are based on a proven methodology that combines cybersecurity expertise, social psychology and communication techniques. Depending on your objectives, we design realistic scenarios such as phishing, smishing and vishing campaigns, as well as physical intrusion tests. The scope of the engagement is precisely defined to address your key priorities: raising employee awareness, measuring detection capabilities and strengthening internal procedures.
Resources
Our Latest Resources
Ransack Query Injection: Analysis and Exploitation of an ORM Vulnerability
Developers often rely on libraries to manage communications with databases. This saves them from having to write raw queries. These libraries generall...
What is Pass-the-Hash? Attacks Types and Security Best Practices
During our internal penetration tests, we regularly compromise Active Directory without using any passwords. This is possible thanks to an iconic atta...
