By now, most of us have used LLMs like ChatGPT and Bard to boost our productivity, write code, explain concepts, and much more.
In this short blog, I want to talk about using ChatGPT to be your personal trainer for cybersecurity (and not only).
Prompt engineering
Prompt engineering refers to the process of designing and optimizing the input queries or statements given to an AI model to yield the most effective or desirable responses. It is crucial to use AI systems, especially for models like GPT-4, where the structure of the prompt has a significant impact on the output. Through strategic prompt engineering, users can guide the model’s responses, control the complexity of the output, and even elicit specific types of knowledge or behavior from the AI.
Passive prompts
If you used ChatGPT, you probably used it passively. For example: “Write a blog about X that will sound natural and will have at least 500 words”, “Explain X as you would explain to a five-year-old”
This is what “passive prompt” is — passive interaction with the LLM.
Now let’s see how ChatGPT can be your AI trainer using active prompting
Active prompts
In the active prompt, you are switching roles. Instead of your giving instructions and asking questions to the LLM, he is now asking you questions and giving you instructions. Let’s see a few examples:
Job interview
Suppose you’re preparing for an interview for a SOC analyst role at a cybersecurity firm where their primary offering is a Web Application Firewall (WAF). In such a role, you’d be tasked with managing various security issues related to web applications.
With ChatGPT at your side, you’ll find yourself well-equipped for your interview. From offering insights on potential questions to decoding job descriptions, and even helping you manage those pre-interview jitters, ChatGPT is ready to assist.
The same prompt can also help you prepare for an exam.
Another tip, you can provide to ChatGPT the entire job description.
Test your skills
ChatGPT can serve as an excellent tool for testing your abilities. If, for example, you want to estimate your skills in malware analysis, ChatGPT can assist in creating scenarios or questions to help you evaluate your knowledge and expertise.
“Teach me”
If there’s a topic you’re eager to dive into, ChatGPT has got your back. Say, for example, that you’re keen on understanding the mechanics of buffer overflow attacks:
Conclusion
LLMs will change the way we learn and educate ourselves. You need to embrace the change and harness it for your own good.
The people learning to use LLMs will have a significant advantage.
Keep learning and improving!