White Collar: Use of Manipulation

Advanced English 9
02/24/14
Human Hackers and Their Minds
Humans do not need power, but have the desire, the want, and the crave for power, which is achieved when overcoming obstacles presented to them in life. This is similar to the cons and challenges presented by Neal in White Collar. The show is about a super suave con artist, Neal Caffrey, who has an unlikely partnership with FBI agent Peter Burke. To avoid jail, Neal signs on with the White Collar Division to help Peter catch other white-collar thieves, but conceals an ulterior motive throughout the show. Together, they solve fraud cases, and catch many criminals, while balancing their own drama outside the White Collar division. Neal uses his charm, and manipulation skills, so he can go undercover and gather information to help solve cases. He also uses those attributes to get money by pulling cons and stealing different pieces of expensive art for himself. Neal realizes the reason why he continues to be a con man and why he continues to manipulate others. Unlike most scammers, he doesn’t do it for the money, but for the challenge. The con men in White Collar use social deception to manipulate others, with skill, in order to alter their identities and to unfairly control someone’s mind, so they can gain power and feel euphoric.
Before analyzing the relationship between con men in White Collar and manipulation, the denotation and connotation of “manipulate” has to be thoroughly clarified. In Oxford Dictionaries, “manipulate,” is first defined as, “to handle, manage, or use, especially with skill, in some process of treatment or performance” (“Manipulate” 1), which directly asserts that this word is used as an aid when applied to a situation, such as a con. This meaning is valid when Neal controls people by using social deception “to handle [a situation]…with skill” (“Manipulate” 1) whenever necessary. Social engineers conform easily into society, and yet, have the ability to “control or influence”

Bibliography: Eastin, Jeff. "Season 3." White Collar. USA. Los Angeles, CA, 7 June 2011. Television. White Collar is a crime/mystery television show airing on the USA Network since 2009. This series is about an ultra-suave forger and con man Neal Caffrey, who always dresses impeccably, even when he 's prison-bound after FBI Agent Peter Burke captures him. To avoid jail, Neal signs on to help Peter catch other white-collar thieves but conceals an ulterior motive throughout the show. In Season 3, the main conflict is when Neal manipulates all of his friends and acquaintances in order to run away to an island, so an agent from D.C. Art Crimes doesn’t take him back to jail for stealing a Raphael painting years before. Throughout this season Neal is unsure of what decision to make; he can either save his relationship with his friends, and risk going back to prison or destroy his new life in New York, just to avoid jail. He struggles with the conflict within himself, and ultimately believes that manipulation can resolve his problem. When Neal manipulates others, he feels euphoric, thus allowing him to believe that he has the power to make his decision, which is to run away. Even in the beginning of the season, the themes of manipulation, power, and greed is very prominent within the first five minutes of the episode. Those themes are shown in the first episode of Season 3, when Mozzie and Neal outsmart the FBI, which enables them to have the opportunity to run away with priceless art. Following the pattern of these repeated themes throughout the show will eventually show the true connections between Neal Caffrey, manipulation, and power. This source is helpful because this show is what’s being connected to the whole essay and the operative word. Examples from the show are used to further explain an argument and the larger significance. Hadnagy, Christopher. Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking. Indianapolis: Wiley, 2011. Print This book shows the many aspects of social engineering and it goes into detail on how the social engineer thinks, plans, and executes his or her’s attacks. The author, Christopher Hadnagy uses his real knowledge and experiences to take the reader on a long and engaging ride on the subject. The book asserts that human hackers not only scam others because of greed, but in order to stay powerful. One of the important main ideas is the influence and the power of persuasion. The author notes that people are trained from a young age in nearly every culture to listen to and respect authority. When the social engineer takes on that role of authority, it becomes a most powerful tool; far more powerful than any software or piece of technology. This relates to the show, White Collar, because Neal takes on many different identities, so he can manipulate others into thinking he is someone that he’s not. He does this to obtain information, money, or whatever else he wants. Like many criminals, Neal has many aliases, and his most used one is Nick Halden, which he uses when he meets new people, so they don’t judge him based on his past criminal life. This source is useful when research on social engineering is needed to support the thesis and the argument of the research paper. The information and facts from this book correlate with the examples from the T.V. show, White Collar, thus allowing a deeper analysis of the operative word and its definitions. "Manipulate." Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. The Oxford English Dictionary is one of the largest dictionaries in the world, and defines each word, and includes additional information on where it came from, how it’s used, when it first entered the English language, and how the word changed over time. It further explains each definition and word by applying it to quotes from modern and historical texts. This source also defines the connotative and denotative meanings within the word. The Oxford Dictionaries first describes, “manipulate” as control or the influence [of someone or something]. This implicates that this word evokes a negative connotation because to “manipulate” is usually referred to someone who goes through devious means in order to gain something. Manipulation is often associated with dirty politicians, annoying telemarketers, and scam artists, thus creating a negative connotation and denotation. This negative connotation of the word, “manipulate” makes a character like Neal seem evil, and devious. Depending on the perspective, he can be perceived either way. For example, Neal is a valuable asset to the FBI, but to the criminals who are captured because of his manipulation skills; he is a hindrance to their plan. These examples of the definitions, portray the main ideas, and three part plan of development.  Mitnick, Kevin D. The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security. Indianapolis: Wiley, 2002. Print. This source describes the art of “getting people to do things they would not ordinarily do for a stranger” (McElhearn). In the book, the author explains why social engineers are so good at wrangling secretive information from unsuspecting employees. The author includes examples of how manipulation can be combined with hacking. It also describes the process of social deception and the author shows how vulnerable people really are by providing examples of how easy it is to trick them and just how gullible humans can be. Another example, from the White Collar episode, “Front Man,” is when Neal pretends to be a single father to obtain information from a travel agent. He completely transforms into a new identity and is able to convince the travel agent to give him disclosed information. Even throughout the whole show, Neal uses manipulation and social deception to do unimaginable things. The goal of this source is to inform people, such as employees, to be aware of the tactics social engineers use, so the employees can avoid being conned. This book is useful because it stated the reasons why con artists scammed people, which helped support the argument that con men manipulate people in order to gain power and feel euphoric. It has also has changed past thoughts on this topic because it was believed that con artists manipulated people for money, but also for the power. This new information shaped and changed the argument of the research paper and of the thesis.