CSEPS
The Certified Social Engineering Prevention Specialist (CSEPS) was the world’s first professional certification focused specifically on defending against social engineering attacks [?].
Background
Co-created by Alex Kasper and Kevin Mitnick in the early 2000s, CSEPS emerged from their combined decades of experience—Mitnick’s infamous exploits demonstrating social engineering’s power, and their joint work developing defensive countermeasures.
The Problem CSEPS Addressed
At the time, cybersecurity certifications focused almost exclusively on technical controls: firewalls, encryption, network security. But as Mitnick had demonstrated repeatedly, the weakest link in any security system is the human element.
Social engineering—manipulating people into revealing information or taking actions that compromise security—was (and remains) the most effective attack vector. Yet no formal training or certification existed to help organizations defend against it.
The Approach
CSEPS training covered:
- Recognition - Identifying social engineering attempts across phone, email, and in-person vectors
- Psychological principles - Understanding why social engineering works (authority, urgency, reciprocity, etc.)
- Organizational defenses - Policies, procedures, and culture changes that reduce vulnerability
- Incident response - What to do when an attempt is detected
Legacy
The concepts pioneered in CSEPS have since become standard in security awareness training industry-wide. The emphasis on “manufactured urgency” as a key manipulation technique—now central to Alex’s current work—originated in this early curriculum.
Related
- [Citation not found: art-of-deception] - Kevin Mitnick’s book expanding on many CSEPS concepts
- [Citation not found: freedom-downtime-2001] - Documentary featuring both Mitnick and Kasper