2024-09-14 –, Room 401
Assumptions burn defenders every day. Perhaps the most pernicious one is that systems and their controls will always work as designed. Best practices in security may be good guidelines, but unfortunately also suffer from these same blind spots. For example, best practice recommends the use of LAPS for local administrator account passwords of domain-joined computers, yet misconfiguration of active directory can turn it from a protective control into a vulnerability. But what if there was a way to challenge these assumptions up front? The best way to dismantle these types of assumptions is to experience how deeply flawed they are. There is no better way to gain first hand experience into this perspective than immersion in the offensive security space. In this talk we'll explore how to immerse yourself in the offensive security world to obtain this knowledge without needing to change careers or obtain additional certifications. By being more informed about offensive security, defenders are better able to recognize relevant intel, understand existing threats, and more readily discover attacker behavior. Join me as I discuss how there's more to defending than just defense, and how you can find and engage with the amazing resources that are out there waiting to be explored.
Dr. Catherine J. Ullman is a security researcher, speaker, author, and Principal Technology Architect, Security, at the University at Buffalo with over 20 years of highly technical experience. In her current role, Cathy is a digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) specialist, performing incident management, intrusion detection, investigative services, and personnel case resolution in a dynamic academic environment. She additionally builds security awareness among faculty and staff which educates and informs users about how to prevent and detect social engineering threats, and how to compute and digitally communicate safely. Cathy has presented at numerous information security conferences including DEF CON and Blue Team Con. Cathy is a contributor to the O’Reilly title 97 Things Every Information Professional Should Know and the author of the Wiley title The Active Defender. In her (minimal) spare time, she enjoys visiting her adopted two-toed sloth Flash at the Buffalo Zoo, researching death and the dead, and learning more about hacking things to make the world a more secure place.