Presentations
Here is a collection of Kenneth G. Hartman’s articles and presentations of a variety of topics including information security, privacy, and leadership:
Table of Contents
- Detecting AI Images in Criminal Defense Cases
- ICAC's Watchful Eye: CSAM and Torrential Downpour & Digital Surveillance
- Unmasking the Artificial: Forensic Defense Against Deepfake Imagery
- Stop Playing Security Whack-a-Mole: Enforcing Cloud Security with Organizational Controls
- Resilient Humanity: Thriving in the Age of Superintelligence
- Dealing with the Deluge of Digital Discovery
- Mastering Fabric
- Personal Cyber Security in an AI-Driven World
- Beware! Encryption Jedi Mind Trick
- Differential File System Analysis for the Quick Win
- Docker Crash Course
- Can You Really Be More Secure in the Cloud?
- Embrace Your Inner Hacker
- Tech Tuesday Workshop
- A Purple-Team Approach to Exploring AWS Security Services & Capabilities
- How Azure, AWS, Google handle data destruction in the cloud
- Doing Cloud in China
- SANS Webcast - The Best of Both Worlds - Cloud + SASE
- SANS Webcast - What To Do When Moving to the Cloud
- A DevOps Approach to Security Controls
- What Cloud Saavy Customers Really Want
- Data Protection in the Public Cloud
- Digital Forensic Analysis of Amazon Linux EC2 Instances
Detecting AI Images in Criminal Defense Cases
Presented at the CDAM Spring Conference 2026.
Artificial intelligence has made it possible to generate highly realistic images that never came from a camera or real-world event. These images are already appearing in criminal cases through social media, screenshots, search warrants, and digital extractions. This session equips criminal defense attorneys with practical tools to evaluate whether image evidence is authentic, synthetic, or unverifiable. Attendees will learn how AI-generated images differ from traditional photo manipulation, what red flags can be identified without specialized software, how forensic methods like metadata analysis and camera fingerprinting apply, and how emerging provenance standards affect admissibility. The focus is on actionable strategies for discovery, motions, and cross-examination.
Take-Aways:
- Identify common indicators that an image may be AI-generated or unreliable
- Know what discovery requests matter when image authenticity is disputed
- Understand when metadata, PRNU, or expert testimony can undermine image evidence
- Distinguish between meaningful provenance and self-attested digital credentials
- Apply Rule 901 and 702 principles to challenge questionable image exhibits
Detecting AI Images in Criminal Defense Cases - VIDEO REPLAY
Detecting AI Images in Criminal Defense Cases - SLIDES
ICAC's Watchful Eye: CSAM and Torrential Downpour & Digital Surveillance
Presented at the CDAM Spring Conference 2026.
ICAC investigations increasingly rely on Torrential Downpour and similar tools that function as continuous, automated surveillance of peer-to-peer networks. This session gives defense attorneys a working understanding of how CSAM cases are built from BitTorrent evidence without requiring forensic expertise. Attendees will learn core technical concepts that routinely appear in affidavits and testimony, how those concepts are translated into legal claims, and where overstatement commonly occurs. The session also addresses Fourth Amendment search arguments as part of a broader strategy, explaining when they matter, when they do not, and how technical limits shape suppression, discovery, and trial decisions.
Take-Aways:
- A clear, lawyer-level understanding of how Torrential Downpour and ICAC BitTorrent surveillance actually works
- The key technical terms and concepts attorneys must recognize without becoming forensic experts
- How automated surveillance claims are translated into probable cause and trial evidence
- When Fourth Amendment search arguments are viable and when other strategies are more effective
- How to identify and request the specific Torrential Downpour artifacts necessary to evaluate government claims
ICAC’s Watchful Eye: CSAM and Torrential Downpour - SLIDES
Unmasking the Artificial: Forensic Defense Against Deepfake Imagery
Technical presentation to the Grand Traverse ISSA Chapter.
As generative AI technologies like GANs and diffusion models reach unprecedented levels of photorealism, the line between genuine photography and synthetic fabrication has blurred, creating a crisis of trust in digital media. This presentation explores the evolving landscape of digital image forensics, moving beyond simple visual inspection to rigorous scientific detection methods. We will examine the principles of “Camera Ballistics” and Photo Response Non-Uniformity (PRNU), which use unique sensor noise to fingerprint specific devices with court-admissible accuracy. We will contrast these established methods with emerging AI-specific detection techniques, such as frequency domain analysis and model fingerprinting, which can attribute synthetic images to specific generators like DALL-E or Midjourney. Finally, we will discuss the shift toward cryptographic provenance via the C2PA standard, differentiating between hardware-embedded credentials and software-based assertions. Attendees will leave with a practical understanding of the tools and methodologies required to authenticate digital media and maintain the chain of custody in an increasingly synthetic world.
Unmasking the Artificial: Forensic Defense Against Deepfake Imagery - SLIDES (2/26/2026)
Unmasking the Artificial: Forensic Defense Against Deepfake Imagery - NOTES (2/26/2026)
Stop Playing Security Whack-a-Mole: Enforcing Cloud Security with Organizational Controls
Security teams often find themselves reacting to cloud misconfigurations and policy violations after they occur—playing an endless game of security Whack-a-Mole. Instead of relying solely on detection and response, organizations can enforce preventive security measures at scale using cloud-native organization-level controls. In this webinar, we will explore how AWS Service Control Policies (SCPs), Azure Policy, and GCP Organizational Constraints enable security teams to proactively enforce security policies and prevent risky configurations before they happen. By shifting security left and embedding controls at the organizational level, companies can reduce attack surfaces, improve compliance, and eliminate entire classes of misconfigurations.
Key Takeaways
- How preventive security controls reduce cloud misconfigurations
- Deep dive into AWS SCPs, Azure Policy, and GCP Organizational Constraints
- Real-world examples of security policies that enforce best practices
- How to test and validate organizational controls before deployment
- Strategies for balancing security and operational flexibility
Resilient Humanity: Thriving in the Age of Superintelligence
Resilient Humanity: Thriving in the Age of Superintelligence explores what happens when AI enters a runaway self-improvement cycle—surpassing human cognition and upending familiar systems. Instead of trying to steer the course of global AI development, this talk reframes the singularity as an invitation to double down on our uniquely human strengths. You’ll discover how cultivating mental resilience, ethical clarity, emotional intelligence, and meaning-making can anchor you in purpose and agency—even as machines grow more powerful—and how those capacities ripple outward to influence your students, family, and community.
In a dynamic, interactive session grounded in the Human Resilience Project’s evidence-based frameworks, you’ll learn practical practices for strengthening empathy and creativity, reclaiming cognitive sovereignty in the face of algorithmic persuasion, and building habits of gratitude, presence, and connection that outlast any software update. By focusing on the ways each of us can shape AI’s impact on our own lives and those we influence, this talk equips you not just to survive the age of superintelligence—but to thrive within it, ensuring that people, not just programs, define our shared future.
Resilient Humanity: Thriving in the Age of Superintelligence - SLIDES
Resilient Humanity: Thriving in the Age of Superintelligence - YouTube Video