World's top security experts uncover cybersecurity issues with young talents

How possible it is that the technology-enabled tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) which modern cars are equipped with may be used for worse than robbery and kidnapping? How are propaganda trolls on the web and social media are identified based on behavioural analytics? What do internet scanners are really scouring the entire web for? How many malware has not yet been discovered?

These are among the hot cybersecurity issues to be examined and presented by seasoned cybersecurity experts at the adjoining mini-convention stream debuting at Kaspersky Lab’s Security Analyst Summit (SAS) in Singapore next month.

The global cybersecurity company is unveiling SAS Unplugged this year, the summit’s newest component, which is uniquely designed as a way to give back to the security research community through information sharing and mentoring.

Consisting of workshops, presentations, technical tracks, career coaching, interactive games and challenges, SAS Unplugged is specifically geared towards young talents such as students and researchers as well as seasoned security enthusiasts.  

Set to take place on 10 April 2019 at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore, Kaspersky Lab’s elite security experts will be sharing the stage with their top-calibre security counterparts from other cybersecurity companies to present intriguing and thought-provoking issues to share with the community.

Among the presenters are colleagues Inbar Raz and Raziel Einhorn, Security Architect and Product Manager at Argus Cyber Security, respectively, who will go over the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), a seemingly simple warning system to alert a vehicle driver of insufficient tire pressure level but which has attracted the attention of security researchers for it spoofing capabilities. The duo will demonstrate a proof of concept for the worst case attack scenario against the technology-powered TPMS that could potentially result in harming people and losing lives.

Staffan Truve, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of threat intelligence provider Recorded Future, will cover influence operations (also known as troll campaigns) that target everything from elections to corporate interests and high-profile individuals. Truve will expose how troll hunters are being determined using behavioural analytics. Andrew Morris, founder  of GreyNoise, will focus on unknown internet scanners whose intentions are unclear and share how distinct groups have already been identified and what these scanners are raring to find from crawling the entire IPv4 space.

Costin Raiu, Director of the Global Research Analysis Team (GReAT) of Kaspersky Lab, will take a look at the places which have been neglected in terms of APT research with a focus on negative ring attacks and the unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI). Raiu says this would explain the significant gap between the few discovered sophisticated attacks and the cybercriminal groups with huge budgets or the so-called missing 90% of the iceberg.

Other the cybersecurity issues to be tackled at SAS Unplugged are:

• Attacks on the software supply chain to be delivered by twin sisters and malware experts Noushin Shabab of Kaspersky Lab and Negar Shabab of PS&C Group
• Discoveries on the espionage campaign dubbed DNSpionage targeting the Middle East by Warren Mercer and Paul Rascagneres of Cisco Talos
• how bit squatting domains are abused based on research by Rob Ragan and Oscar Salazar of Bishop Fox, and
• A probe into unknown Internet scanners whose motives are unclear by Andrew Morris of GreyNoise

SAS Unplugged will include an expo zone with interactive stations and lightning talks and an entertaining quiz show segment is in store especially for security geeks.

“The introduction of SAS Unplugged to our annual summit couldn’t have been more timely. And it tells so much about our commitment to engage the new generation of professionals in the IT security field. The cybersecurity sector is very interesting, diverse and there’s so much to learn from it. We are looking forward to very productive collaboration among all participants of SAS Unplugged as well as the actionable takeaways that everyone will gain from it,” said Sergey Novikov, Deputy Director for Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT).