AI Fundamentals and AI Hacking 101

Agenda

1 - Intro to neural networks

• Learn how neural networks function, the math behind them and how they are trained.

2 - Neural Network Lab

• Train a neural network to perform basic image recognition of numerals and tweak the neural network design to see how this changes its behavior and effectiveness.

3 - Intro to Natural Language Processing

• Learn about what NLP is and how it works, explore how words can be represented as vectors and a word2vec lab and visualization.

4 - Neural Network Bigrams and Trigrams

• Learn about some of the first text predictive models: bigrams and trigrams and how they can be implemented with basic neural networks.

5 - Recurrent Neural Networks

• Learn about the first attempts to add context to neural networks using recurrent neural networks.

6 – Intro to LLMs

• Learn about the evolution of natural language processing to the LLM and the transformer decoder architecture.

7 – LLM Attention

• Learn how LLM attention works and explore how the attention mechanism adds context in an interactive lab.

8 – Self-Hosting LLMs

• Learn how to self-host your own open source LLMs using Ollama and how to interact with them.

9 – Scripting Examples

• Learn how to write your own basic chatbot and interact programmatically with Ollama or other AI APIs.

10 - AI Fundamentals Review

• A quick review of some of the fundamentals of AI such as how they operate and standard terms such as model parameters, temperature, top-p, inference, training, LLMs.

11 – AI Threat Model

• Discuss the threat actors, assets, adversary goals and attack surfaces for modern AI applications and the specific AI application used in the course

12 - Reconnaissance, Model Mapping and Baseline Behavior and Fingerprinting

• Demonstrate techniques for performing reconnaissance of AI applications with a specific focus on fingerprinting underlying AI models and their settings.

13 - Prompt Injection and Jailbreaking

• Demonstrate common techniques for prompt injection and jail breaking

14 - Prompt Injection Tools and Resources

• Show common tools and repositories of prompts used for prompt injection and jailbreaking

15 - Bypassing Common Protections

• Showcase how to bypass common protections for prompt injection such as input/output filtering

16 - Testing for harmful output/hate speech/misinformation/off-topic content and resource drainage

• Demonstrate tests for verifying the model responds correctly to requests for generating harmful or Off-topic content or attempts to waste resources.

17 - Data Exfiltration

• Demonstrate how retrieval augmented generation works and vulnerabilities associated with it such as leakage of confidential material and PII.

18 - RAG and Vector DB Attacks

• Demonstrate attacks the focus on the retrieval of documents and the ticket base, showcase vector poisoning attacks.

19 – Excessive Agency,h3>

• Demonstrate how excessive agency in applications can be exploited and tested for.