
This workshop will familiarize students with how to persuasively develop contact and drive communication with online threat actors.
Live Training $25 - $150
Course Length: 4 Hours
Includes a Certificate of Completion
Next scheduled date: August 15th, 2025 @ 11:00 AM EDT
Description
This workshop will familiarize students with how to persuasively develop contact and drive communication with online threat actors.
Syllabus
Introduction
- Why are you interested in communicating with online threat actors?
- Why is it important to develop a contact and communications strategy for online engagement with online threat actors?
Common pitfalls of online communication with online threat actors
Influence and persuasion techniques
Exercise: Influence and persuasion online
Pre-suasion before influence and persuasion
- Making an online threat actor more responsive to communication before the communication
- Getting their attention and holding their attention
Building behaviorally based relationships online
- Self-disclosure and vulnerability
- Introducing affect into relationship building
Integrating content or “rich media” sharing to develop and maintain relationships
Introducing a framework for designing authentic sock puppets
Exercise: A framework for designing sock puppets and making you appear more authentic
Let’s model this
Scenario exercise: Befriending online threat actors
Scenario exercise: Bedazzling online threat actors
FAQ
About the Instructor

Tim Pappa
Bio
Tim Pappa is an Incident Response Engineer – Cyber Deception Strategy, Content Development, and Marketing, with Walmart Global Tech’s Cyber Deception Operations team. Tim is a former Supervisory Special Agent and profiler with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), where he specialized in online engagements and influence. Tim has held several roles in joint intelligence environments, including at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Tim recently published “Influencing the Influencers: Applying Whaley’s Communication and Deception Frameworks to Terrorism and Insurgent Narratives” (Singapore: World Scientific) in July 2025.
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Workshop: How to Befriend and Bedazzle Online Threat Actors with Tim Pappa
Complete Package
Live Training Tim Pappa
Virtual
Certificate of participation, six months access to class recordings and our appreciation.
Pay Forward What You Can
Live Training Tim Pappa
Virtual
Certificate of participation, six months access to class recordings and our appreciation.
Pay Forward What You Can
Live Training Tim Pappa
Virtual
Certificate of participation, six months access to class recordings and our appreciation.
Pay Forward What You Can
Live Training Tim Pappa
Virtual
Certificate of participation, six months access to class recordings and our appreciation.
Pay Forward What You Can
Live Training Tim Pappa
Virtual
Certificate of participation, six months access to class recordings and our appreciation.
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