Introducing SCS Keynote Speaker Cory Doctorow

Security is more of a process than a state. Think about this for a minute: It means that you can’t buy security. Instead, you will need to implement procedures that allow you to manage the risk. The building blocks of these processes are made out of hardware and software that support your goals. But what if you could not really trust them to help you? What if the goals of these components did not align with yours? What if your hardware and software was cheating you and your organization?

There is someone who has thought more about this than most of us: Canadian-born author Cory Doctorow.

An essay for a magazine called Locus sums up his reasoning: Cheating is a rational decision to maximize profits. An actor is tempted to cheat when the expected profit is bigger than the chance of getting caught. Modern hardware and closed source software give the cheaters a wide set of options to cover their tracks. You need proof? How did VW cheat emission tests for years without raising suspicion? The car would detect that it was being tested and changed the motor’s behavior. How does malware avoid being examined? It detects the forensic expert’s hypervizor and stops its misbehaviour. It only goes about with its plan when it is sure nobody is watching. These are extreme examples, but how about cheap IoT devices with a minimal profit margin from sales and a real need to maximize net revenue? Should you really trust them? Can we trust the standard supply chain of the hardware and software that is being used for critical applications? What about essential applications like the E-Voting systems that we got to know at last year’s Swiss Cyber Storm conference?

But this is not the only topic that our keynote speaker, Cory Doctorow, is obsessed with. He’s a well-known privacy advocate who used to work for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He is a very productive blogger and an award-winning Sci-Fi author. Looking over Cory’s Wikipedia article shows you so many widely differing works, which make him an inspiring person. And inspiration is what we seek from our speakers, and above all, from a keynote at Swiss Cyber Storm.

Of course, we are not the only ones who noticed his genius. In fact, the XKCD comic made him one of it’s iconic heros: An uber-blogger living in the blogosphere, high above the insignificant lives of us mortals.

It’s a true honor that Cory Doctorow has found the time to join us at the Swiss Cyber Storm conference on October 30. The early bird ticket sale will be open for a few more weeks and we plan to present our speakers in individual blog posts like we did last year. Cory Doctorow is the first one in a long row. Stay tuned!

More about our keynote speaker:

• Personal Website: craphound.com
• Wikipedia Article: Cory Doctorow
• Blogging: Boing Boing Net author Cory Doctorow

 

Christian Folini, Program Chair