Social Engineering Toolkit (SET)
Social Engineering Toolkit (SET)
The Social Engineering Toolkit (SET) is an open-source framework designed for social engineering attacks. It is a powerful tool used by penetration testers and cybersecurity professionals to simulate various social engineering tactics, including phishing attacks, credential harvesting, and website cloning.
- Phishing attack simulations
- Credential harvesting
- Website cloning
- Payload delivery and execution
- Wireless access point attack simulations
- Highly customizable for advanced users
Install Social Engineering Toolkit
SET comes pre-installed in Kali Linux, but if you need to install it manually, use the following command:
$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install setLaunch Social Engineering Toolkit
To start the Social Engineering Toolkit, open a terminal and run:
$ sudo setoolkitAfter running this command, you will be presented with a menu where you can choose different attack vectors.
Example: Cloning a Website for Phishing
One common use case of SET is cloning a website to capture user credentials. Follow these steps:
- Launch SET using
sudo setoolkit. - Select 1) Social-Engineering Attacks.
- Select 2) Website Attack Vectors.
- Select 3) Credential Harvester Attack Method.
- Select 2) Site Cloner.
- Enter the URL of the target website (e.g.,
https://www.example.com). - Set up a listener on your local machine.
- Once a victim enters credentials, they will be captured and displayed in the terminal.
Common SET Attack Vectors
Legal disclaimer
Usage of the tool for attacking targets without prior mutual consent is illegal. It is the end user’s responsibility to obey all applicable local, state and federal laws.
The Social Engineering Toolkit is a powerful tool for ethical hacking and penetration testing. However, it should only be used for legal security assessments and with proper authorization. Understanding SET helps security professionals simulate real-world attacks and improve cybersecurity defenses.
