Social Engineering

Social engineering attacks the human, not the software. The attacker builds trust or urgency—posing as support staff or a friend in trouble—and persuades the target to reveal a seed phrase, approve a transaction, or install malware. No exploit code required.

Crypto has lost staggering sums this way. The $600 million-plus Ronin bridge hack began with a fake job offer that planted malware on a developer's machine. The defenses are habits, not tools: treat unsolicited contact as hostile, and never share a seed phrase with anyone—support staff included.