Operationalizing Offensive Social Engineering for the Air Force

The focus of this paper is on the use of offensive social engineering in the Air Force. As the Air Force organizes, trains, and equips its new cyber warrior force, it will need to operationalize social engineering principles in order to grow a repeatable, sustainable capability. Towards this end, this paper is organized around three main points. First, establish legitimacy and demonstrate that social engineering is in fact compatible with existing Air Force and Joint military doctrine. This is done with a thorough analysis of doctrine and historical writings about military deception, psychological operations, and related concepts. Second, social engineering arrives in the operational realm by discussing a framework for measuring its effects. A well known process, Aerospace Intelligence Preparation of the Battlespace, is extrapolated and adapted for use in this realm. Finally, requirements for a training plan are developed as a first step in the implementation process.

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