Charles Herring 5 November 2023
Machine Learning in Social Engineering

Given at the 10th Annual Chicago Hacking Conference on November 6, 2023.

Abstract

Machine learning (ML) is arguably the most potent advancement in technology since atomic fission with similar benefit and risk extremes. The outcome driven nature of machine learning allows computers to rapidly test theories to find pathways to support specific goals. These approaches applied to social engineering can be used to manipulate human factors for purposes including cybersecurity breach. This session will cover the philosophies, strategies and tactics used to accomplish a successful campaign to recruit human assets to a cause. Factors to mitigate risk in these advanced social engineering attacks will also be examined.

The presentation is attached below.

Attachment
Machine Learning Driven PsyOps (1.96 MB)

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About the Author

Charles Herring

Charles Herring

Co-founder & Chairman, WitFoo

I started WitFoo in 2016 to make information and operations shareable across the craft of cybersecurity — between companies, law enforcement, national security and insurers, who mostly cannot see what each other sees. Before that I was at Lancope and Cisco, and I began in 2002 as Network Security Officer for the Naval Postgraduate School.

I lead research and development on a platform that ingests trillions of messages a day across hundreds of clusters. It is sold as Conductor, Reporter and Analytics, licensed flat per appliance with unlimited data — because a team charged by the gigabyte ends up making coverage decisions on a spreadsheet, months before the incident that needed the logs they dropped.

Everything here is mine, not the company's, and it wanders. Corrections are genuinely welcome — I would rather be right than consistent.

A note on how this was written: I use artificial intelligence tools to help me research, check facts, and edit these posts. The ideas, the arguments, and any mistakes are mine. I read the sources, I check the claims, and I take full responsibility for what I publish here. The views are my own and the writing is my intellectual property.