What is a social engineering toolkit (SET) and how is it used in hacking?

What is a social engineering toolkit (SET) and how is it used in hacking?

The Social Engineering Toolkit (SET) is a software framework used in ethical hacking to simulate and execute social engineering attacks. It is designed to help security professionals assess the vulnerabilities of an organization's employees and systems by exploiting human psychology and manipulating individuals into performing certain actions or divulging sensitive information.

SET provides a wide range of attack vectors, including phishing emails, malicious websites, and phone calls, to trick targets into revealing passwords, login credentials, or other confidential data. It allows hackers to create convincing scenarios and deploy them in a controlled environment to test the effectiveness of an organization's security measures.

By utilizing SET, ethical hackers can identify weaknesses in an organization's security awareness training, policies, and procedures. This information can then be used to enhance security measures, educate employees, and mitigate the risk of real-world social engineering attacks.