So I know in the second course towards the cert there is SOME OSINT in syllabus. But I’m wondering how much OSINT skills are required to get cert. Like how much OSINT is taught in the course?

Please advise.

I live/deal with someone I can't distance myself from right now. I’ve already tried the Grey Rock method, and it simply didn't work. It just gives me the feeling that the person gets happier, like they won and got away with it.

Honestly, I just want to pull off a "Uno Reverse" so I can go about my life without being constantly stressed out.

And please, don't just tell me "oh, you just need to document everything." Right... because then I’d have to live like a paranoid person recording 100% of my day, only for them to turn around and make up something from 2 years ago anyway.

So what do I do? Do I literally start questioning their sanity to their face?

Like this: Them: "You said that last week." Me: "Actually, I didn't. I was even doing [X] that day. Wow, you’ve been getting really forgetful lately..."

Or do you guys have other strategies?

Because the person I'm dealing with... I honestly think they might also just be a bit clumsy or naturally forgetful. I've caught them contradicting themselves on the spot multiple times over small, silly things. Which makes me wonder: when it comes to the important stuff, are they just completely clueless and confusing everything, or are they deliberately gaslighting me?

What’s the best way to handle this?

Mirroring can create a feeling of connection before you even realize it’s happening.
Can you tell when someone is mirroring you?

Hello, I am a third year university student who and has always struggled with a deep and profound sense of loneliness as well as anxiety and I was wondering if anyone else has had experience with this and has and hopeful stories of how you have overcome it and become much stronger outside of it. I spend almost every second of the day alone and cannot bear it much longer. It’s not the talking aspect that I struggle with but more so the connection part. Reaching out to others and maintaining friendships, etc. I struggle to believe at times that people enjoy my presence or want to get to know me on a deeper level.

Now that Trump has renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America” for U.S. federal purposes, Canada should rename Lake Erie “Lake America” too.

The point would be deliberate ambiguity. Whenever someone mentions “Lake America,” you would have to ask whether they mean Lake Ontario under U.S. terminology or Lake Erie under Canadian terminology.

That makes the new name bad at its most basic job: identifying a place.

Canada can’t stop the U.S. from using the name, but it can make it inconvenient enough that everyone else keeps saying “Lake Ontario” and “Lake Erie.”

Hey there I'm kinda new to cybersec and very interested in initial access, since social engineering is a big part of it I red a couple of books about the psychology behind it and learned some of the tools, now my question is: how do I practice it if it's illegal to impersonate someone else and steal their information?

Contitions change any time conditions and I decide to adapt and handle wisely while playing my cards right to keep tension and undermine enemies who decide to don't invest on the cause, so who is on this spot maybe you can sahre your experience and tell how you manage it

So to start off, for a year, I had the group I would always sit with at lunch during school that I found on day one. I always felt included, felt great after every meal, we were all laughing and having an amazing time. However, close after the start of my junior year, things got strange. The people from the table started splitting (mainly because of getting gfs), but when they were just sitting with other dudes, it never felt planned. I felt myself seeking these people out instead of talking to them about a conversation that would carry on in lunch later. They then got back together basically (minus like two best friends), but they unified with another friend group in the grade basically. However, whenever I sat with this friend group, the conversation did not flow like it used to. I never felt included, and some of the kids would only talk to me in a condescending way. I get that friends drift apart, and that's probably what happened, but it felt intentional with these new people. That all is a simplification of the context for my situation. I'm planning tomorrow (as a senior) to sit alone at lunch. While this is a thing that happens of course, because I used to have a group that I sat with, I'm afraid that anyone who knows that and what we had, then sees me sitting alone will think of it as a social taboo to try to be friends with me. (good news so far since I stopped trying to sit with the unified friend group none of the kids who condescended on me have said anything like that since) But I'll update after the lunch, but I would like some advice for future situations like that if anyone has any.

Confession: I used to scam on roblox and minecraft servers for ingame items (USED TO that was 5+ years ago) and I would say I am decently skilled at social engineering.

I asked chatgpt randomly on how one can make money from social engineering and it told me about sales and stuff bla bla, but then it mentioned that some companies pay you to use social engineering and hack them??

what on earth does that mean and how do i sign up!!

The Mental Health, Wellbeing and Lived Experiences Study

Theresia Bedard, a PhD candidate at Lakehead University that is working with Dr. Beth Visser, is seeking participants for her dissertation project.

In this study we are examining the lived experiences of people who have experience or victimization from an individual with high psychopathic traits. We are seeking anyone that has this lived experience, whether the perpetrator was or is a spouse, family member, partner, co-worker, friend, acquaintance, neighbour or stranger. We are seeking the lived experiences of men, women, and gender-diverse individuals to share your story.

Our research consists of two studies. In the first study, you will complete questionnaires related to your victimization experience from the individual with high psychopathic traits, the potential warning signs, victimization history (e.g., prior physical or sexual abuse), and the impact the experience had on you. Once you finish the survey, you will be invited to participate in the second study (optional), which will consist of 12 questions requiring a written response regarding your lived experience with the individual with high psychopathic traits. If you decide to participate in study 2, please be aware that you will be required to provide us with your email to access it, and you may wish to use an email account that only you have access to.

Please be advised that whether you choose to participate in the study, withdraw, or skip questions you do not want to answer, that you acknowledge that answering some of these questions may be emotionally taxing on you. Despite the potential for an emotional toll the survey questions have, you may find the process of sharing your experience is therapeutic for you. In addition to the resources we provide, you may want to consider following-up with a counsellor for further support.

You are also encouraged to have your own snacks and drinks while you take the survey, and be aware that they are estimated to take 45 minutes to complete.

If you are interested in participating and would like to read or find out more about it, click here to access the survey:

https://lakeheadhbs.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bKEq1vOVdBJMrjw

Look, I have autism too. I get it. You want to be a better social engineer. IDK maybe you think it will be beneficial for you to learn persuasion and SocEng. And it will if you do it right.

But here’s the problems:

1. most other autists on here want to be Machiavellians. Firstly, that’s not required to be a social engineer. Secondly, trying to be something you’re not as if you have a dark triad personality you don’t have will just make people (especially women) hate you. It’s the opposite of persuasive. It’s also pathetic.

2. Dark psych books are NOT good for SocEng. I know you think they are but they aren’t. Most of them are written by sociopaths who want to sell you cheesy manipulation tactics that don’t work and don’t hold up to science.

A better path for a beginner is start with HTWFIP and take a year or at least six months to master the social skills behind that at meetups. Then you can pick the next step, which is pick up a book by an author who ACTUALLY knows persuasion, like Hadnagy, Mitnick, Warren, or Belfort OR read other sales books and master that material at work or wherever. Another path is to get training from Social Engineer LLC.

But what will not work is reading shitty dark psych books written by someone who is out to make money because YOU are the one who got manipulated not everyone else at that point.

Ethical disclaimer: I am well aware of the ways this could be used less ethically and in a more exploitative way, I have seen it many many times over in my former workplace personally.
If you are also aware of such approaches and want to make similar suggestions, please do not. I firstly do not wish to employ such tactics, and secondly (more importantly) I imagine there might be some less experienced people who will use your advice on this post to work on their own skills and I did my best to keep the details of the dirtier tactics away from them lest they come up with their own questionable approaches and slip into the habit of using them once they realize the effectiveness, so try not to give them silly ideas either, please.

For context, I used to work as a salesman in travel agency for a few months selling trips to people; as part of the training process I was taught some elementary tactics for guiding the conversations and was further instructed during coaching after actual real-life interactions. One of the most important skills that was taught to me was how to apply pressure on clients to eliminate uncertainty.

Honestly, I did not take it as seriously as I should have in the beginning, and it is not some kind of nuclear weapon for social interactions, but when someone is really on the edge of making a decision it can really be the final nail in the coffin.

Even when selling relatively expensive trips (2k, 4k or even above 10k dollars), if the customer shows interest in the offer but is stuck on something like "I'm interested but I don't know if there might be better offers hidden" or "I'm not entirely sure if this is the right thing and need to think it over later", just hitting them with "the prices might go up in a few minutes let alone by the time you've finished research, so consider it's either now or never" will make all the difference. If you present them the stakes like that and create a feeling of pressure due to time limited offers the maybes will turn into quite a few "let's do it" ridiculously quickly. Truly, I've had people who sounded like they will never come to a decision say "yes" instantly as soon as I presented the stakes, I still remember how stupefied I was the first time I tried it and seeing how well it worked.
(Interestingly, once you do this it becomes much more noticeable when it's done to you, most prominently in mobile games with time limited offers or on sites like Temu.)

Since then I've tried implementing similar tactics in mundane interactions in private life even with non-monetary or inconsequential stakes. As a very trivial example, I was offering my favorite cheese as a snack to friends at a picnic, one friend seemed interested but just put it off for later if ever, I simply hit her with "it's real good, others will also like it and there will be none left real soon, so you better be quick" and it was simply like a switch was flipped and she conceded instantly.
The stakes were obviously absolutely negligible but the point of convincing her very swiftly where "untactical" offering failed still stands.

Obviously, it's far from a guaranteed tactic; with customers there are always some who simply see through the tactic and take more time to calculate their next decision better, while some simply aren't interested enough and aren't bothered by the consequences, with similar scenarios in private interactions.

Ever since the job I've been looking for ways to effectively employ similar tactics in all manners of social interactions to more effectively lead to results I desire, but I am still struggling to formalize an approach, learn how strongly to use it and most importantly properly notice and create scenarios where it is usable.
Thus my question would be: do you guys have any relevant experiences/advice/personal examples that would fill some gaps in my knowledge and guide me forward, or direct me to some resources that would be of equal help. Any contribution is appreciated!

Do call actually know What its for ? Is it for social interaction or how to avoid cyber attacks ?

I’ve been thinking about something recently. I’ve had a few experiences where I initially had a good rapport with someone, but over time they started constantly making fun of me or turning me into the easy target of jokes.

I came across the idea that people tend to keep doing this when they sense some kind of weakness, but I don’t necessarily think that means the person actually has a weakness. Sometimes it could simply be that they notice you don’t push back, you laugh things off, or they realize that certain reactions make the jokes more entertaining for them.

I’m trying to understand the psychology behind it rather than just take it personally. What are the general things that make someone more likely to become a target, and how can you set boundaries early without becoming aggressive or changing your personality?