The show is over ... and web authentication bypass

Well, that's Infosecurity Europe over for another year - our 7th as exhibitors and my 11th as a speaker (I think). The new venue at Earls Court seemed to be viewed by most people as a big improvement and I have to agree - the show felt more relaxed yet more alive.

Our press conference on web authentication bypass was well received, with Computer Weekly and Infosecurity Adviser reporting the story. We'll be explaining more about this problem, which stems from poor web site configuration, at our next white-hats.co.uk meeting on 15 May. The fact that the problem affects web portals as well as e-commerce sites and that even two-factor authentication is no protection makes this an important issue for discussion.

It's that time again!

Once again it's almost time for Infosecurity Europe and this year I seem to have a very full diary for all three days!

On Tuesday 28th April at 12:00 I'm giving a talk on "Cloud Computing: 50 Ways to Lose Your Data" closely followed by a press conference on a nasty new trend in compromising e-commerce sites.

On Wednesday 29th at 15:00 I'm wearing my white-hats.co.uk and ISACA hats and chairing a security expert panel on "Social Engineering: Techniques and Mitigation", a topic very close to my heart!

Then finally on Thursday 30th, again wearing my white-hats.co.uk hat, I'm facilitating two different discussions in the new Security Cafe one on "Laptop Security - Understanding The Threats & Countermeasures" and the second on "Wireless Security - The Real State Of Play" which is about threats to corporate security through insecure home wireless networks.

I'll be ready for the long weekend after all that!

Excellent podcasts

I was recently introduced to podcasts by finux on Hacker Public Radio

finux is a very talented guy who I met during a trip to the University of Abertay in Dundee. His podcasts are well worth a listen. You can also find him on his Linux Society blog

Fame at last

OK - it had to happen, someone finally posted a video interview of me to YouTube. It's all about blended attacks and was recorded at the Combating Cybercrime in Betting & Gaming conference in January this year. I'm quite pleased with the interview, but I hate to imagine what the YouTube viewers are going to say! :-)

Gary McKinnon

As someone who works to combat cybercrime and cyberterrorism you may be surprised that I am very much against the extradition of Gary McKinnon. However, I am also someone with intimate knowledge of Asperger's syndrome in two members of my immediate family. As a result, I had the privilege of meeting and discussing Asperger's with the UK's foremost authority, Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen during a diagnosis some years ago. Dr. Baron-Cohen has lucidly explained the condition and the potential impact of incarceration on Gary here. I have no doubt that if he believes Gary has Asperger's then that will be the case.

The IT industry not only contains more than its fair share of people with Asperger's, it also benefits significantly from their intelligence and intense focus. If you work in IT you probably know several people with this condition, although you (and they) may not realise it. We need to try to understand them, to celebrate their positive contributions and to make allowances for some of their apparently obsessive behaviours. You may even be interested to test your own Autism-Spectrum Quotient or to support the National Autistic Society.