CEH Practice Question: Malware, Social Engineering and Network Attacks
Which tool is specifically designed to automate social engineering attacks, such as phishing and credential harvesting?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse Metasploit's broad exploitation capabilities with SET's specialized social engineering automation, forgetting that SET is the dedicated tool for phishing and credential harvesting in the CEH toolkit.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
SET
The Social Engineering Toolkit (SET) is an open-source Python-driven framework specifically designed to automate social engineering attacks, including phishing campaigns, credential harvesting via cloned websites, and spear-phishing payloads. It integrates with Metasploit for payload delivery but is distinct in its focus on manipulating human behavior rather than exploiting technical vulnerabilities.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Wireshark
Why it's wrong here
Wireshark is a network packet analyzer, not a social engineering tool.
- ✗
Nmap
Why it's wrong here
Nmap is a network scanner, not a social engineering tool.
- ✗
Metasploit
Why it's wrong here
Metasploit is an exploitation framework, not specifically social engineering.
- ✓
SET
Why this is correct
SET is the Social Engineering Toolkit, designed for automating social engineering attacks.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CEH practice question is part of Courseiva's free EC-Council certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CEH exam.