"I don't have time to post on LinkedIn." That was my excuse for years. Then I built a robot to do it for me. This is the technical breakdown of how I automated my personal brand using Make.com, OpenAI, and a bit of Python.
Executive Summary
In the digital age, your personal brand is your resume. However, maintaining a consistent presence on LinkedIn requires daily effort. To solve this, I engineered an automated pipeline that:
- Monitors RSS feeds from top cybersecurity news sources (The Hacker News, BleepingComputer).
- Filters articles for relevance using GPT-4.
- Summarizes the key points into a "professional opinion" LinkedIn post.
- Schedules the post for optimal engagement times.
The Architecture: Make.com (formerly Integromat)
The core of the system is a Make.com scenario. It runs every morning at 8:00 AM.
The Workflow Steps
- RSS Trigger: Watch RSS feed for new items.
- OpenAI Module (Filter): "Is this article about a major breach or a new tool? Answer YES/NO."
- Router: If NO, stop. If YES, proceed.
- OpenAI Module (Write): "Write a LinkedIn post about this. Tone: Professional, Insightful. Include 3 hashtags."
- Human Review (Slack): Send the draft to my private Slack channel with a button "Approve" or "Reject".
- LinkedIn API: If approved, post to profile.
Prompt Engineering
The secret sauce is the prompt. You cannot just say "write a post." You get generic AI slop. You need to provide Context and Constraints.
"You are a Senior Cybersecurity Consultant. You are analyzing this article for a technical audience. Do not use buzzwords like 'game-changer' or 'unleash'. Focus on the risk to business continuity. End with a question to encourage comments."
Technical Deep Dive: The Attack Anatomy
Understanding the specific mechanics of the attack is crucial for engineers. Most advanced threats follow the Cyber Kill Chain model:
RECONNAISSANCE: The attacker gathers information on the target. This can be passive (OSINT) or active (port scanning).
WEAPONIZATION: Creating a deliverable payload (e.g., a malicious PDF or Office macro).
DELIVERY: Transmitting the weapon to the target (e.g., via Phishing or USB).
EXPLOITATION: Triggering the payload to exploit a vulnerability (e.g., CVE-2023-xyz).
INSTALLATION: establishing a backdoor or persistence mechanism (e.g., a scheduled task or registry key).
COMMAND & CONTROL (C2): The compromised system calls home to the attacker server for instructions.
ACTIONS ON OBJECTIVES: The attacker achieves their goal (encryption, extensive data exfiltration, destruction).
The Human in the Loop
I learned the hard way that fully autonomous posting is dangerous. One day, the AI tried to post a cheerful summary of a tragic ransomware attack that shut down a hospital. The tone was completely wrong.
That is why Step 5 (Human Review) is non-negotiable. Automation handles the creation, but a human handles the curation.
Standard Incident Response Procedures
A robust Incident Response Plan (IRP) is the best defense against chaos. The SANS Institute outlines a six-step process:
- Preparation: Training, tooling, and dry runs (tabletop exercises).
- Identification: Detecting the deviation from normal behavior and determining the scope.
- Containment: Short-term mitigation (isolating the system) and long-term containment (patching).
- Eradication: Removing the root cause (malware, compromised accounts).
- Recovery: Restoring systems to normal operation and monitoring for recurrence.
- Lessons Learned: Post-incident analysis to improve future response.
Conclusion
Automation gave me back 5 hours a week. But more importantly, it taught me that AI is not a replacement for creativity; it is a force multiplier for consistency.
Comprehensive Mitigation Strategies
To prevent recurrence, a defense-in-depth approach is required. This involves layering security controls so that if one fails, another catches the threat.
- Network Segmentation: Isolate critical assets in separate VLANs with strict firewall rules (East-West traffic inspection).
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Deploy agents that can detect behavioral anomalies, not just file signatures.
- Identity and Access Management (IAM): Enforce Least Privilege and MFA everywhere. Review access logs regularly.
- Regular Audits: Conduct penetration testing and vulnerability scanning (using tools like Nessus or Burp Suite) at least quarterly.