A Decepticon and Autobot Walk Into a Bar: A New Python Tool for Enhanced OPSEC

Joe Gray Saturday, August 1, 2020: 2000. When we see the terms "Natural Language Processing" (NLP) or "Machine Learning" (ML), often our guts are correct, and it is vendor marketing material, frequently containing FUD. After tinkering with various ...

Joe Gray

Saturday, August 1, 2020: 2000. When we see the terms "Natural Language Processing" (NLP) or "Machine Learning" (ML), often our guts are correct, and it is vendor marketing material, frequently containing FUD. After tinkering with various libraries in Python and R with the use of some OSINT and SOCMINT techniques, Joe has found a use for NLP and ML that is 100 percent FUD-free in the form of a brand new Python-based tool.

In this presentation, Joe addresses topics that he has frequently spoken about in past years: disinformation, deception, OSINT, and OPSEC. When working through learning NLP and ML in Python, it dawned on him: marry these technologies with Decepticon for good. Enter the Decepticon bot.

The Decepticon bot is a python-based tool that connects to social media via APIs to read posts/tweets to determine patterns of posting intervals and content, then takes over to autonomously post for the user. What is the application, you ask? People who are trying to enhance their OPSEC and abandon social media accounts that have been targeted without setting off alarms to their adversaries. Use case scenarios include public figures, executives, and, most importantly, domestic violence and trafficking victims.