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Game of the SE: Improv comedy as a tool in Social Engineering - Danny Akacki - Security Monkey BSides Philadelphia 2017 (Hacking Illustrated Series InfoSec Tutorial Videos)

Game of the SE: Improv comedy as a tool in Social Engineering
Danny Akacki - Security Monkey
www.twitter.com/dakacki www.twitter.com/ImprovHacker www.twitter.com/InfoSanityOrg
BSides Philadelphia 2017

No scene is ever about the words being spoken. - Del Close What do improv comedy and Social Engineering have in common? Whether the average person knows it or not, life prepares us for both every day. We don't wake up every day with a script to read or cues to hit, we're improvising everything we do every hour of every day. In this talk I'll describe how studying improv comedy can be a useful learning tool for both novice and seasoned Social Engineers. As an aspiring social engineer, I'm always looking for new ways to compliment my studies. During a panel talk at the SE Village of Derby 2017 one of the speakers mentioned improv comedy being a tool some used to sharpen their SE skills. Early in 2017 I embarked on several levels of improv comdey training with the comedy troupe ManDudeBro in Bethlehem, PA. It quickly became evident to me how much SE and Improv have in common. I found improv to be an excellent practice ground in lieu of professional SE gigs. Through this talk I intend to map several core tenants of improv comedy to crucial SE skills and principles of influence such as: Play to the top of your intelligence. Whether engaging the target of an SE gig or pretending you're a doctor during an improv scene, if you don't believe what you're saying, nobody else will either. Accommodating Non Verbals. One of the godfathers of improv, Del Close, once said "No scene is ever about the words being spoken." This maps to the non verbal principles of influence and building rapport. An audience won't believe a scene you're trying to create without passion and honesty. Recognizing how to craft those skills in yourself is key to recognizing them in others during a social engineering engagement. There are many others including listen and respond vs active listening, the principle of "Yes, And" and it's ability to teach a novice SE how not to negate a frame and the principle of "gift giving" in a scene and an SE "quid pro quo". I think this talk will be a fun and eye opening session on how Improv and SE are perfect scene partners.

"Danny Akacki is just a hacker that adores what he does and the community that surrounds him. He is an enthusiastic speaker with a love of Tribal Knowledge Sharing, Japanese whisky and lock picks. Danny has spoken at events like BSides Augusta , BSides Philadelphia and is one third of the Rally Security podcast crew. He is also the creator of InfoSanity.org, a resource and sounding board for those dealing with mental health issues in the Information Security community.

Recorded at BSides Philly 2017

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