Titania Presenting At Security B-Sides MSP – Minnesota Chapter of Security B-Sides

Come And See Us At The Nerdery

Titania’s MD, Ian Whiting, and COO, Nicola Whiting are traveling to Minnesota this week to discuss compliance and security with infosec experts at Security B-Sides MSP, hosted at the Nerdery, Minnesota. 

'Workstation Configuration Hardening' talk 

As sponsors and supporters of the B-Sides series, we are contributing a 1h long presentation appropriately called “Workstation Configuration Hardening” featuring our compliance solution – Paws Studio. The talk will take place in the Crypto Party room, from 13.00 – 14.00. In this presentation, Ian Whiting will be discussing configuration management, how compliance fits in with organizational needs, the issue of compliance vs. security and the need for automated solutions, while finishing with an interactive demonstration of Paws Studio. To take part in the demo you only need to bring a device (laptop, tablet) and install Paws Studio on the machine. You also have the option to get an evaluation key to try it later at home, or check out other policies supported. 

You can also come and listen to Ian's talk on “Automating Compliance” which will take place in the Auditorium, from 12:15, followed by Josh Paul, from Dakota State University and Mike Lutgen, from Palo Alto Networks. 

BSides happened for all the ‘great talks that never got heard’

The “mother” organization for BSides MSP is Security BSides and it has since its beginnings spawned a multitude of chapters all over the world B’Sides started in 2009 when Mike Dahn (@MikD), Jack Daniel (@jack_daniel), Chris Nickerson (@isc4thepeople) decided to hold their own conferences ‘on the side’, as the CFP (Call For Papers) at BlackHat or DEF CON was oversubscribed. In its non-conformist style, the event defines itself through a negation: B-Sides is not the All-Conference-Rejects, while adamant that it is not a conference looking to discuss the current big thing. B-Sides is on the lookout for the people who are discussing the NEXT BIG THING. 

The event has a different structure to other established conferences in the industry. The Structured chapters follow a more “official” conference format and are usually run alongside other security conferences (Black Hat, RSA etc.). The other style, which is also what you can expect at the Minnesota chapter, is the Unconference format; it is meant to be relaxed, interactive and the general idea is to take part in the conversation, ask questions and “make it as good as you want it to be”.

What Else Is On?

BSides MSP schedule

There are plenty of exciting keynotes, presentations and competitions to choose from including a Crypto Party, a Capture The Flag competition as well as other initiatives.

The keynote program includes well-known names in the infosec and was determined by community vote:

Opening the keynote track is Lt. Col. William Hagestad II  (@RedDragon1949)  is a renowned expert in Chinese cyber warfare who will be giving an overview of the 'Chinese Use of Computers & Networks as a Strategic Weapon'.

Mike Saunders (@hardwaterhacker) talks about 'Problems with Parameters' - After networks and servers become more secure, the soft belly of the Internet consists of vulnerabilities in Web Applications.

Leonard Jacobs from Netsecuris (@Netsecuris) opens the conversation on 'Using Your Brain To Beat The Hackers' – automated threat monitoring and threat-detection software are not enough to determine whether a threat is real. The human brain is needed.

Dr. Jared DeMott (@JaredDeMott) talk on 'Appsec: Overview, Deep Dive & Trends' will look at the 3 pillars of Application Security: static, dynamic and manual analysis, popular bugs in code auditing, and file fuzzing and network fuzzing.

Paul Dokas (@pauldokas) presents on 'World Class Network Defense', or 'How I Learned To Ignore Vendors And Use Tools That Work' brings a non-commercial perspective on open source tools to create a defense system for the network.

The ending keynote is held by Rafal Los (@RafalLos) Director Solutions Research at Accuvant who makes a compelling case for 'Succeeding in Security by Measuring Your Failure'. When it comes to breaches, understanding what to measure is just as important as understanding how to measure effectively. Here, in the failures, we can find success.

We are proud to join forces with other industry names in sponsoring the Security B-Sides MSP: The Nerdery (@the_nerdery), ISC2 (@ISC2), Palo Alto Networks (@PaloAltoNtwks) DSU Dakota State (@DakotaState), Milton Security Group (@MiltonSecurity), Bromium(@bromium), Symantec (@SYMCPartners), Netsecuris (@Netsecuris), Global Velocity (@GlobalVelocity), Silent Circle (@SilentCircle), IT Risk Limited (@itriskltd). 

Come on over!

If you are in Minnesota on Saturday, 23^rd of August, visit us, talk to us, ask us questions and most important, don’t take our word for it! Try Paws Studio for yourself and tell us what you think. As with all BSides events entry is free, but registration is required. Wheaton’s Law applies. Also, do not socially engineer the staff.