Christopher Hadnagy

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Christopher J. Hadnagy
General Keith Alexander (left) offers Chris Hadnagy the NSA Director's challenge coin at DEF CON 20[1]
Born
Christopher James Hadnagy
Occupation(s)Information technology consultant, author
Organization(s)Innocent Lives Foundation, Social-Engineer, LLC
Websitewww.social-engineer.com

Christopher James Hadnagy is an American author and information security consultant. He specializes in social engineering, and has taught classes, conducted trainings, and written books on the topic. He established the Innocent Lives Foundation, which aims to identify online predators. He coordinated events at DEF CON about social engineering for several years. In 2022 the DEF CON organizers banned him from the conference based on reports of code of conduct violations.[2][3] He denied wrongdoing and sued the organizers for defamation.[3][4] A judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2025.[4][5]

Career

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Hadnagy is the founder and CEO of Social-Engineer LLC, a company specializing in education, consulting, and training in social engineering.[6] He established Social-Engineer.Org, an IT security education website.[7] Hadnagy has developed a social engineering framework, published a newsletter, and hosted a podcast focused on the subject.[8] He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona College of Applied Science and Technology.[9][10]

He was previously the operations manager at a security training company, Offensive Security.[11] Before that, he worked in sales consulting and technology services.[12][13]

Charitable foundation

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In 2017, Hadnagy founded the Innocent Lives Foundation, which has a goal of protecting children from online predators by identifying people who produce or trade child sexual abuse material.[14][15] The foundation collaborates with information security professionals, uses open-source intelligence (OSINT), and works with law enforcement agencies in the United States.[15] In 2019, Vice reported that the Innocent Lives Foundation sold a set of Network Investigative Techniques, hacking tools for identifying anonymous individuals, to the FBI for $250,000.[16][17][18]

Conferences

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Hadnagy contributed to DEF CON by helping create a social engineering capture the flag competition in 2009.[19] He ran this competition and coordinated other social engineering education activities at the annual conference for several years.[20][1]

The organizers of DEF CON permanently banned Hadnagy in February 2022 for code of conduct violations, a decision he publicly disputed.[21][10] Hadnagy was previously a member of the review board for the Black Hat conference, and he left or was removed from the board after DEF CON published its ban.[22] In June 2022, Security BSides in Cleveland, Ohio, featured Hadnagy as an unlisted speaker.[23][24][10] Controversy surrounding his participation led to several other speakers withdrawing from the event, and the event organizer apologized and resigned.[23][24][10]

Hadnagy sued DEF CON in August 2022 for harm to his reputation (Case No. 2:23-cv-01932-BAT).[25][3][22] On February 21, 2025, lawyers on behalf of Jeff Moss and DEF CON filed a motion for summary judgment, requesting oral arguments.[26][2] The motion included details of harassment allegations against Hadnagy.[2][5] Hadnagy filed a motion for sanctions and civil contempt against Moss and DEF CON related to confidential information in the exhibits attached to the motion,[2] which the judge denied on April 14, 2025.[26] On May 13, 2025, the judge dismissed Hadnagy's lawsuit with prejudice because he could not prove the claims against him were false.[4][5][26]

Books

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Hadnagy has authored several books on social engineering, including:

  • Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking (2010, Wiley Publishing, Inc.) ISBN 978-0-470-63953-5
  • Unmasking the Social Engineer: The Human Element of Security (2014, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) ISBN 978-1-118-60857-9
  • Phishing Dark Waters: The Offensive and Defensive Sides of Malicious E-mails (2015, John Wiley & Sons Inc.), co-authored with Michele Fincher ISBN 978-1-118-95847-6[27]
  • Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking (2018, John Wiley & Sons Inc.) ISBN 978-1-119-43338-5[28]
  • Human Hacking: Win Friends, Influence People, and Leave Them Better Off for Having Met You (2021, Harper Business) ISBN 978-0-063-00178-7

References

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  1. ^ a b Uchill, Joe (August 3, 2015). "Chris Hadnagy on the Def Con hackers posing as your coworkers". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Jones, Connor (March 25, 2025) [2025-02-25]. "Harassment allegations against DEF CON veteran detailed in court filing". The Register. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Faife, Corin (August 18, 2022). "Def Con banned a social engineering star — now he's suing". The Verge. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Volokh, Eugene (May 13, 2025). "Defamation Lawsuit Against Def Con Cybersecurity Conference Dismissed". Reason. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c Jones, Connor (May 16, 2025). "Defamation case against DEF CON terminated with prejudice". The Register. Retrieved May 31, 2025.
  6. ^ Qadar, Sana; Bullen, James (March 16, 2022). "Hacking humans: social engineering and the power of influence". ABC Radio National. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  7. ^ Goodchild, Joan (October 17, 2011). "New social engineering poll reveals which scam works better". CSO Online. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  8. ^ Yadron, Danny (April 20, 2015). "The Man Who Hacks Your Employees". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  9. ^ "Cyber Operations - Cyber Faculty". The University of Arizona, College of Applied Science & Technology. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d Brean, Henry (August 28, 2022). "U of A prof sues over lifetime ban from Las Vegas hacker convention". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved September 26, 2025.
  11. ^ McMillan, Robert (July 30, 2010). "FBI sought data on Defcon 'social engineering' contest". Computerworld. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
  12. ^ "Business Briefs". Times Leader. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. May 27, 2004. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
  13. ^ "Business - People in Motion". The Times-Tribune. Scranton, Pennsylvania. April 20, 2003. pp. C7. Retrieved October 4, 2025.
  14. ^ Hiltner, Stephen (September 24, 2018). "When Reporting on Defcon, Avoid Stereotypes and A.T.M.s". The New York Times. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Larson, Selena (August 14, 2017). "Hacker creates organization to unmask child predators". FOX8. CNN Wire. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
  16. ^ Cox, Joseph (March 25, 2021). "FBI Paid Anti-Child Predator Charity $250,000 for Hacking Tools". Vice. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  17. ^ Cox, Joseph (June 23, 2021). "FBI Hacking and Tech Contracts Are Vanishing from the Web". VICE. Retrieved September 26, 2025.
  18. ^ Riley, Tonya; Schaffer, Aaron (March 26, 2021). "The Cybersecurity 202: NSA director says intelligence has a big blind spot: domestic Internet activity". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  19. ^ "DefCon contest to spotlight social engineering". CSO Online. July 6, 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  20. ^ Eddy, Max (November 8, 2013). "Women Utterly Destroy Men in Social Engineering Competition". PC Magazine. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  21. ^ Nichols, Shaun (February 10, 2022). "DEF CON bans social engineering expert Chris Hadnagy". TechTarget. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  22. ^ a b Wright, Rob (January 16, 2023). "Judge dismisses Chris Hadnagy lawsuit against DEF CON". TechTarget. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  23. ^ a b Jones, Connor (June 21, 2022). "Security BSides commits to greater conference diversity after speaker backlash". IT PRO. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  24. ^ a b Nichols, Shaun (June 20, 2022). "Cleveland BSides takes heat for Chris Hadnagy appearance". TechTarget. Retrieved September 26, 2025.
  25. ^ Hetzner, Christiaan (August 19, 2022). "Star social engineer dubbed the 'human hacker' sues Def Con after receiving permanent ban". Fortune. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  26. ^ a b c "Hadnagy v. Moss, No. 2:23-cv-01932-BAT (District Court, W.D. Washington)". CourtListener. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  27. ^ Prandini, Maria Patricia (March 27, 2016). "Book Review: Phishing Dark Waters". ISACA. Retrieved September 26, 2025.
  28. ^ Chukkath, Meghna (September 1, 2024). "Book review: Christopher Hadnagy, Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking". Indian Journal of Public Administration. 70 (3): 652–654. doi:10.1177/00195561241257404. ISSN 0019-5561.