Copilot AI and the Phishing Email

Martin and Ben were the Octagon Technology newsletter editors last month and they chose artificial intelligence (Copilot AI) as their theme. They asked me to write the first article.

Copilot AI and Word

I had thought to write about how I use Copilot in Microsoft Edge, to help me with parts of the articles I write for Octagon Technology, Smart Thinking Solutions and CyberAwake. But I do not use Copilot AI very much in my technical and cyber security writing except for a couple of very specific tasks:

• I use it for definitions. Q. “What is the principle of least privilege?”

The results for that question are above. But I am not that happy with Copliot AI’s answer and this is usually the case. I end up using this as a draft and then write my own version in a style for my audience.

• The how to. Q. “Instructions to open the settings for Windows 11 disk encryption”

How to open the settings for Windows 11 disk encryption.

• To access the disk encryption settings in Windows 11, you’ll need to use an administrator account.
• Once you’re signed in, click on the Start menu and navigate to Settings.
• From there, select ‘Privacy & Security’ and then ‘Device encryption’.
• If the ‘Device encryption’ option is not visible, your device may not support it, but you can check if standard BitLocker encryption is available instead.

My use of Copilot AI

These are the two main ways I use Copilot AI and Word. It is included in our Premium Microsoft 365 licence so why not make use of it? But I use it as a tool to move my writing along – not as a way to produce the whole article.

I am not being preachy here – if using Copliot AI to produce your work floats your boat, then go ahead. But do treat it as a draft and read it before sending it to your client, or worse, your boss. Remember the button you press to get your copy says “Generate Draft”.

Copliot AI and Cyber Security

Then I remembered that a few weeks ago I wrote about AI as a part of my Back-to-Basics Phishing Email Primer. So rather than write something new, in the spirit of sustainability (that will score brownie points with Diana) I am going to recycle that article here!

OK this article is a little tongue in cheek, but it was written in the summer and was a wonderful 26c here whilst I wrote this.

Martin and Ben produced a great August Newsletter, if you'd like to receive next month's – sign up for copy here

Have a great summer.

Clive

p.s. In the spirit of the theme the featured image was produced by Copilot and DALL-E 3, using the prompt “create an image of AI on holiday on a beach in the sun with a cold beer and a Kindle”. I am not sure where the straw came from in a pint!