March 26, 2010
Throughout 2009, two major themes emerged in terms of cyber security: a steady evolution of malicious tools of the trade (tactics) and a shift in the center of gravity from typical network defenders and commercial security companies to government policy makers in terms of security thought leadership and spending (strategy). This presentation will cover some of the malicious tool advancements and document the shift in the center of gravity. It will also cover some of the latest developments in Vulnerability research and, finally, the presentation will look over the horizon to describe cyber security disruptors; tools and technologies that will emerge within the next five year that will fundamentally change how we all defend our enterprises.
Rick Howard is the iDefense Intelligence Director of VeriSign Infrastructure Defense Services. Rick is responsible for the day-to-day intelligence gathering and distribution efforts at iDefense and is charged with developing strategic and tactical plans for the department. He is an experienced computer security professional with proven success in the use of network intelligence for network defense. Prior to joining iDefense, Rick led the intelligence gathering activities at Counterpane Internet Security and ran Counterpane's global network of Security Operations Centers. He served in the US Army for 23 years in various command and staff positions involving information technology and computer security. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2004. He spent the last two years of his career as the US Army's Computer Emergency Response Team Chief (ACERT), where he coordinated network defense, network intelligence and network attack operations for the Army's global network. Mr. Howard holds a Master of Science degree in computer science from the Naval Postgraduate School and an engineering degree from the US Military Academy, where he also taught computer science later in his military career. He has published many academic papers on technology and security and most recently contributed as an Executive Editor to the first book published by Verisign / iDefense: “Cyber Fraud: Tactics, Techniques and Procedures.”