Book Review: "Unmasking the Social Engineer"

"Unmasking the Social Engineer, The Human Element of Security" by Christopher Hadnagy, is such a phenomenal, view-changing, niche, and highly applicable social engineering book, I had to review it so I could recommend it to others looking to step up their social engineering and/or interpersonal communication game. It expands and provides far more insight to the micro expressions and body language descriptive in Mr. Hadnagy's original / first book, "Social Engineering". But this book takes it much further, this time around Chris has studied extensively under Paul Ekman, who is a breakthrough leader in the science of micro-expressions, and has had another expert in the field, Paul Kelly, edit and review the book. The book is 256 pages, or 5.3 audio hours, and can be acquired for between $10-$25. At first I listened to the book on Audible, and despite getting a ton from the book I actually went out and purchased the paperback as well, because the book references graphics and pictures so often throughout that I got much more out of it by reading the physical copy. For example, Chris discuses the details of face muscles and then references graphics where actors are portraying those very expressions, literally showing the reader what he is describing. This is invaluable, as it conveys the facial features like words can not, but you lose this aspect in the audio book, and there is nothing released after the fact that makes up for that (such as an appendix of images or a pdf of examples from the book)(*at the date of publication of this article). In fact, the book contains roughly 91 images that Chris references throughout, making it pretty necessary to have the graphics. Because of that, I've given the book 7 / 10 stars, despite being detailed and insightful in social engineering, having listened to the book first only to have to re-read the text for the images, is something I would like to see addressed in a second revision. I would give the book a much higher rating if the audio book was as useful, because it is equally priced. Despite that, I really enjoyed the audio book for other reasons, namely Chris himself was reading it, so it was interesting to me to hear where he put his inflection and how he read his own book. The following are the chapters of the book, so you can understand just how detailed of a social engineering book this is:

Foreword by Dr. Paul Ekman

Acknowledgments and Preface

Introduction

Part I: Building the Foundation

Chapter 1: What Is Nonverbal Communication?
Chapter 2: What Is Social Engineering?

Part II: Decoding the Language of the Body

Chapter 3: Understanding the Language of the Hands
Chapter 4: The Torso, Legs, and Feet
Chapter 5: The Science Behind the Face
Chapter 6: Understanding Nonverbal Displays of Comfort and Discomfort

Part III: Deciphering the Science

Chapter 7: The Human Emotional Processor
Chapter 8: The Nonverbal Side of Elicitation

Part IV: Putting It All Together

Chapter 9: Nonverbal Communication and the Social Engineer Human Being

The book is one I found myself studying and practicing the techniques in, trying similar facial expressions in the mirror and I even found myself reflecting on the book when in social settings. Part II can really be a lot of fun if your practicing the body language along with the images in the book. And as Chris says, "Perfect practice makes perfect", meaning form matters as much as action. That said, it's really the kind of information that enhances your everyday life. Hadnagy pulls from great work all over his field, for example in Chapter 10 he lists Robin Dreeke's top 10 principles for building quick report:

Articulate time constraints
Accommodating nonverbals
Slower rate of speech
Sympathy / assistance themes
Ego suspension
Validation
Ask how, when, why questions
Quid pro quo
Reciprocal altruism
Manage expectations

But those aren't the only great lessons from the book, it's chock full of memorable bits. At one point Chris Hadnagy recounts, "After one five-day class I taught, a student asked me if this ability can be shut off. It can't. Although I don't always have to react to or use the information I gather, once you know something, it's hard to turn it off." But the experts also warn that assumptions made on these inferences can be disastrous. Paul Kelly cautions the reader through Hadnagy, "Just because you can see what someone is feeling, dosn't mean you know why they are feeling that way". But my favorite quote is a direct one from Hadnagy, and it's advice to live by, "Leave people feeling better for having met you".