Award for outstanding research: Dr. Sergej Schultenkämper honoured at the dtec.bw annual conference 2026
At the dtec.bw annual conference 2026 at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Dr. Sergej Schultenkämper was honoured for his dissertation on spear phishing, identity theft and the protection of personal data.
At wonk.ai we are delighted by a special award for our colleague Dr. Sergej Schultenkämper: at the dtec.bw annual conference 2026 at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, he was honoured today for his outstanding doctoral thesis.
The award was presented on 16 September 2026 during the dtec.bw annual conference. Representatives of the two Universities of the Bundeswehr and of dtec.bw recognised selected academic achievements. Dr. Schultenkämper received a certificate and a silver commemorative medal in a formal setting.
For us this award is a particular reason to celebrate. It honours not only a doctorate completed with summa cum laude, but research on a topic whose social and economic importance continues to grow with the rapid development of artificial intelligence: spear phishing, identity theft and the protection of personal data in the digital sphere.
We already congratulated him on the doctorate itself in autumn 2025: Congratulations, Dr. Sergej Schultenkämper.
When publicly available data becomes an attack surface
In his dissertation, Sergej Schultenkämper examined how information from social networks can be combined by attackers and used for targeted cyber attacks.
Unlike classic phishing messages, spear phishing aims for the most individual address possible. Information about someone's job, leisure time, family or personal interests can be used to create trust and make messages appear credible. Combining information from different social networks in particular can produce a detailed picture of a person.
Generative AI makes this problem even more acute. Attempts at deception can be created faster, personalised more strongly and written in more convincing language. The question of what information people make publicly available about themselves, and what risks follow from that, is therefore becoming a central aspect of digital security.
4,500 digital twins for research
For his dissertation, Sergej Schultenkämper analysed large data sets and, among other things, developed 4,500 digital twins of real people based on their publicly available social media presence.
Using risk metrics he developed himself, he then examined how susceptible these digital identities might be to spear phishing and identity theft. According to the criteria developed in his research, around 90 percent of the people studied were classified as potentially at risk.
A key contribution of his work is therefore not only to describe risks, but to make them systematically measurable. In addition, he built a prototype dashboard that can help users recognise problematic combinations of publicly visible information and handle their data more consciously.
It is exactly this combination of academic method, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and concrete application that, in our view, makes the work especially relevant.
Research between HSBI and the University of the Bundeswehr Munich
The dissertation was written within the research project ADRIAN, Authority-Dependent Risk Identification and Analysis in Online Networks, a cooperation between Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (HSBI) and the University of the Bundeswehr Munich.
At HSBI, Sergej Schultenkämper was supervised by Prof. Dr. Frederik Bäumer. The doctorate was completed under the academic direction of Prof. Dr. Michaela Geierhos at the Faculty of Computer Science of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich.
The award therefore takes place in a particularly fitting setting. The dtec.bw annual conference 2026 marks the end of the 2020 to 2026 funding period and puts six years of dtec.bw research and innovation at the centre. This year's event takes place on 15 and 16 September on the campus of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich.
The conference focuses on key and future technologies and on exchange between academia, the Bundeswehr and industry.
Research with a direct link to our work at wonk.ai
That Sergej is part of our team at wonk.ai today is therefore a particular pleasure.
His research touches questions that go well beyond classic IT security: How can large volumes of data be analysed in a useful way? How can AI systems detect risks and classify information? Where do new technologies create new possibilities, and where do they create new dangers at the same time?
When we use artificial intelligence, both belong together for us: making use of technological possibilities and developing a deep understanding of their effects.
Sergej's academic background, his experience with large data sets and his intensive work on artificial intelligence and digital risks are therefore a great asset to our team.
More about Sergej is on his profile.
Congratulations, Sergej!
Completing a doctorate with summa cum laude is already an exceptional academic achievement. That the work has now also been recognised at the dtec.bw annual conference makes this success even more special.
Dear Sergej, the whole wonk.ai team congratulates you on this award. We are proud to have you as a colleague and look forward to continuing to work with you on intelligent, responsible and practical AI solutions.
Congratulations!