DEF CON 25/Social Engineering Village across years
Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas · 3-6 August 2017 · 12 talks
Social Engineering Village at DEF CON 25 covers human-layer security, manipulation techniques, and defensive strategies. The 12 talks explore phishing, psychological manipulation, red team operations, and building organizational resilience.
1–12 of 12 talks
Social Engineering Village·29 min
Michele Fincher
Evaluate how organizational practices and behavioral science principles impact security program effectiveness, identifying common pitfalls in building resilient security cultures.
Social Engineering Village·31 min
Fahey Owens
Design and sustain effective corporate social engineering programs to build organizational resilience through continuous ethical testing and training.
Social Engineering Village·46 min
Keith Conway, Cameron Craig
Transform corporate security culture through strategic change management—using principles of persuasion and organizational psychology to shift security behaviors at scale.
Social Engineering Village·51 min
Helen Thackray
Explore the psychological motivations driving hackers—connecting behavioral science with security research to understand why attackers target social engineering vectors.
Social Engineering Village·31 min
Yaiza Rubio, Félix Brezo
Deep analysis of phishing campaign techniques, credential harvesting methods, and OSINT strategies for conducting targeted social engineering exercises.
Social Engineering Village·48 min
Understand how human perception and decision-making science explains why we struggle with security—and how behavioral insights can create more effective security professionals.
Social Engineering Village·31 min
Billy Boatright
Master the art of building genuine rapport—a critical skill for successful social engineering attacks and red team operations.
Social Engineering Village·52 min
Chris Hadnagy
Apply social engineering skills defensively to identify predatory behavior, protect vulnerable individuals, and develop creative security applications beyond traditional penetration testing.
Social Engineering Village·51 min
Brent White, Tim Roberts
Master the essential skills for hybrid security assessments that combine physical, technical, and social engineering vectors into comprehensive red team operations.
Social Engineering Village·33 min
Tyler Rosonke
Leverage web analytics platforms to identify and exploit organizational reconnaissance gaps, discovering vulnerability patterns through legitimate analytics data.
Social Engineering Village·56 min
Jayson Street
Examine your organization from an attacker's perspective—how red teamers scout websites, employees, and systems to identify and exploit security weaknesses.
Social Engineering Village·39 min
Robert Wood
Move beyond point-in-time social engineering tests with thematic campaigns that target specific workflows and behavioral patterns for more effective security assessment.
