What type of attack did Sari successfully complete by impersonating an officer's assistant to reset a password?

The scenario describes an attack in which Sari impersonated an officer's assistant to reset a password. This action falls under the category of social engineering, which involves manipulating individuals into divulging confidential or personal information that can be used for fraudulent purposes.

In this case, Sari exploited trust and authority by posing as a legitimate figure in an attempt to gain access to private information (the password). Social engineering leverages human psychology rather than technical hacking methods to breach security. This type of attack can take many forms, including impersonation and authority manipulation, highlighting its effectiveness in bypassing security measures that rely on human interactions.

While phishing and spear phishing also involve deception, they primarily focus on online tactics to trick users into revealing sensitive information by masquerading as trustworthy entities. Social engineering encompasses these approaches but is broader, focusing directly on interpersonal manipulation, making it more fitting for the given situation. Brute force attacks, on the other hand, involve systematically trying passwords until the correct one is found, which does not apply in this context.