The “ether sheet”, also known as the “blood/brain barrier” is a sheet that covers the face of a patient in surgery. While it is practical for sterilization, it also helps facilitate a surgeon to make the cut. While all doctors make an oath to “do no harm,” for some, they need to do some harm before thorough healing can happen. Similarly, for social engineers we need to do some harm in order for security awareness to advance. However, there is no defined blood/brain barrier for social engineering. Without one, social engineers are vulnerable to feelings of guilt and remorse even though they are working for the greater good. Those feelings can prevent a good social engineer from being a great social engineer. This research explores how to build one’s own social engineering blood/brain barrier so that social engineers can protect themselves in their efforts to better protect others.
