I want to share my experience with imposter syndrome something many of us in cybersecurity have faced at one point or another, and how it has shaped my career, my approach to threat intelligence, and my relationship with the industry and the people I’ve come to trust and admire. With this talk, I’ll explore how insecurities and belonging coexist in our field, and how confronting that tension has become a source of purpose, empathy, and genuine expertise.

This talk explores various techniques, tactics, and psychological models used to infiltrate emerging threat actor groups. We will examine the process of target identification and discuss when it is appropriate to attempt infiltration. Additionally, we take a closer look at the concept of probing the enemy and the idea of weaponizing new relationship energy (NRE), which can be effective at destabilize individuals and placing them outside of their comfort zones. An important aspect of Persona Theory is not only what we write but also how we present it. Stylometric analysis can be particularly useful in this area. We will compare transliteration and translation (both human and machine) to understand how to pass as a native speaker.