Title: Social Engineering

Abstract: Joe Carrigan believes that social engineering is the biggest blind spot in the security industry today. This talk opens with a story that demonstrates the physiologic reasons that social engineering attacks are successful. The talk then provides an overview of social engineering, its goals and techniques. Finally, Joe will provide a three-layer defense strategy to help thwart social engineering attacks.

Speaker: Joseph Carrigan is a Senior Cybersecurity Engineer and the co-host of the social engineering podcast Hacking Humans.  He has over 25 years of technical experience in a broad range of fields including cybersecurity, security awareness.

Title: “Power Beyond Points: Technical Presentations that Matter”
Abstract: Public speaking is often avoided and fretted over. But it doesn’t have to be so dreadful—a shift in approach can make a presentation a chance to make a meaningful academic contribution. This interactive seminar is designed around applicable techniques for communicating technical information in insightful, memorable, and mindful ways. From identifying the core value of a presentation’s data, to understanding the role of narrative in keeping audiences engaged, these principles will help students plan, practice, and present material that resonates with stakeholders.

Topic: How to productionize Agentic AI in a highly secured environment.

Abstract: Imagine an AI agent that can autonomously navigate classified networks, synthesize intelligence from multiple sources, and make critical decisions in real-time—all while operating within the fortress-like security requirements of the Department of Defense. This isn't science fiction; it's the rapidly emerging reality of Agentic AI in high-security environments. As large language models evolve beyond simple chatbots into sophisticated autonomous agents capable of tool use, reasoning, and multi-step problem solving, they're simultaneously becoming both the ultimate force multiplier and the ultimate security challenge for organizations handling our nation's most sensitive information.

The convergence of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), Model Context Protocol (MCP), and agentic frameworks has created unprecedented opportunities—and unprecedented risks. While commercial enterprises grapple with data leaks and prompt injections, defense organizations face threats that could compromise national security, from adversarial attacks on training data to sophisticated social engineering attempts targeting AI decision-making processes. Leading security organizations like NIST, MITRE, and OWASP have responded with comprehensive frameworks specifically designed for GenAI workloads, recognizing that traditional cybersecurity approaches are insufficient for this new paradigm. Today, we'll explore how to harness the transformative power of autonomous AI while maintaining the ironclad security posture that mission-critical operations demand.

Speaker: Larry Choun is currently an Innovation Lead at Boeing Intelligence & Analytics and works as part of a multi-disciplinary team that focuses on understanding real user problems & seizing business opportunities, designing, building, prototyping, testing, and iterating to create scalable solutions for the cloud, tactical deployment, or Enterprise Data Center using standards such as Agile, COBIT, TOGAF and ITIL. He establishes standards and best-practice for the BI&A engineering teams to follow. These standards come as playbooks, guidelines, and whitepapers. As an Innovation Lead, Larry works with his customer to upskill developers in emerging tech, rapidly create a Most Lovable Product (MLP), and showcase it to his stakeholders. In his most recent project, Larry helps to enable developers on Generative AI, Agentic AI, and Model Context Protocol to transform them from traditional developers to next-gen developers. This equips them to solve the most challenging problems for our national security.

Title: From Data to Insight: Writing Compelling Technical Reports

Abstract: This talk will highlight the crucial roles of audience analysis and document design in creating effective technical reports. Participants will learn how to identify and understand their target audience, tailoring content to meet their needs and expectations. The session will also explore best practices in document design, emphasizing layout, typography, and visual elements that enhance readability and engagement. Through practical tips and real-world examples, attendees will discover how to combine audience insights with strategic design to produce technical reports that are not only informative but also impactful.

Speaker: Amanda Hilliard received her MA in Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language and PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Birmingham in the UK. She has taught writing and communication courses abroad in South Korea, Vietnam, and Ecuador, and in the U.S. in Georgia, Texas, Arizona, and Maryland. She currently teaches in the Center for Leadership Education and manages the Technical Communication Lab at the Johns Hopkins University.