You Won’t Believe What’s In This Article!

By Wayne Maruna

             That headline, my friends, is an example of Social Engineering. The term has a number of definitions.  In a broad sense, social engineering is a discipline in social science that refers to efforts to influence popular attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale (Wikipedia). In the context of information security, the term refers to psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. Social engineering, you might say, takes advantage of human behavior – what the average guy might call a ‘con’. The headline above is designed to pique your curiosity and draw your attention, influencing you to at least read the opening paragraph.

             Examples of social engineering are rife throughout popular websites.  For me, its prevalence is ruining internet use, and making me fearful to click on any link that hackers may have infected.

             Like most people, I suppose, I use the internet for information gathering and relaxation.  Nearly every morning will find me sitting at the breakfast table with my iPad, which serves as a substitute for the morning paper. The first stop is usually the weather app. Then I scan the lead articles on USA Today, maybe stop by for a while at my old hometown newspaper, then delve into Bleacher Report and Sportsmania to see what recent disasters have befallen my favorite sports teams.  Of course, I’ll do a quick check of emails, and probably save Facebook for later in the day after folks get to work and start posting on their employer’s time.

             But increasingly I’ve noticed that articles comprise at best maybe 50% of the page.  Sometimes it’s more like 25%.  That’s not shocking, as it’s not so terribly different from the interior pages of most newspapers.  I’m not naïve.  I understand the people who create the content I am reading have to earn a living and pay expenses.  No content is truly free; it is mostly ad supported, just like this paper that accepts my articles.

             Internet page creators need to get you to view their ads and click on them to earn their way through life.  They know that they can make this a more likely event if they can disguise their ads as interesting content.  So they engage in social engineering. Let me give you some examples.

             I used to subscribe to Time Magazine until their journalistic content became too light weight and their agendas too obvious. But I still get a daily email from them with headline links to brief articles. A recent headline read: Diet Pepsi Will No Longer Contain This Ingredient. Now, I don’t drink Diet Pepsi, but they managed to arouse my curiosity, so I clicked through to the actual article whose headline read: Diet Pepsi Will No Longer Contain Aspartame. I thought to myself, what a waste – they could have just said that, with fewer keystrokes, in the email’s headline and saved me from having taken the time to open a browser and waiting for the page to load. But of course, this was all designed to get me to a web page and expose me to a multitude of other ads.

             In emails from AARP, AAA, Trip Advisor, or other supposed service sites, I’m constantly exposed to invitations to read articles about the 21 best beaches, the 15 worst used cars, or 10 ways to hold onto my money in retirement.  Of course, what I’m really being exposed to are things that they think should be of interest to my demographic, and if I follow the link, I’m off to what is not a concise article, but a slide show that will take me to another 21 or 15 or 10 pages with 25% content and 75% tempting (they think) links.  It is soooooo annoying.

            Those clickable ads are all experiments in social engineering, with about as much content value as supermarket checkout line magazines. Here is a sampling of just one day’s fare:

            Hurry Up Before This Video Gets Banned! – perhaps by people with good taste.

            Mortgage payoff trick has banks on edge. And in a similar vein: Dirty Little Secret to eliminate 15 years of mortgage payments. Clicking through reveals both ‘articles’ are ads for places wanting to solicit you to talk with them about the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program.  Why this is a ‘dirty little secret’ is not really explained, but I guess it has banks on edge.  Yeah, right.

            New Rule in New Bern, NC. Cleverly localized, except for the accompanying photo of an under-dressed woman face down on the trunk of a Dallas police car. Good grief, what’s the new rule? Oh, just to compare car insurance rates before you renew. And you thought the gecko was irritating.

            Of course, if they can’t entice you to click with financial lures, they can always try weight loss:

            Dissolve Body Fat with Salt?  Ummm, maybe if you salt your food to the point of making it inedible.

             New Bern’s New ‘Skinny Pill’ too strong? Because, you know, you could lose too much weight too fast.  Oh, please, oh please, oh please.

             Smart people would know enough not to click on such links.  Want to know who they are? Click on the link to 21 Smartest People in the World…#4 will shock you! It was another slideshow, so I did not bother to find out who #4 was.  I already know who the most interesting man in the world is because I’ve seen the Dos Equis (beer) ads.

             And the final example, hearkening back to the best/worst of the supermarket tabloids: 15 Top Signs You’ve Been Abducted by Aliens. Seriously!

             Yes, I put up with these growing annoyances so that I can gain ‘free’ access to informative articles, typified by this actual Cleveland Plain Dealer headline:  Summer Expected to Bring Higher Temperatures, Electric Bills. Hey, if you’ve ever lived in Cleveland, you’d understand why some people have to be reminded.