keeping the lights on - of theory and...
TRANSCRIPT
Keeping the lights onOf theory and practice
Presented byRalph HolzSchool of Information Technologies
About the speaker
– Lecturer in Networks and Security, USYD
– Leading Node for Cybersecurity in Human-Centred TechnologiesCluster
– Research streams:– Empirical Security Analysis and Engineering– Blockchain Security
– Teaching:– Security Engineering
Keeping the lights on | Ralph Holz 1
Theory and practice
Figure: xkcd.com
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Hard to get numbers
Figure: dilbert.com
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What are our problems, really?
– Critical infrastructure is vulnerable?
– Internet of Broken Things?
– Advanced Persistent Threat?
– Are we doomed?
– Is any of this new?
Keeping the lights on | Ralph Holz 4
What are our problems, really?
– Critical infrastructure is vulnerable?
– Internet of Broken Things?
– Advanced Persistent Threat?
– Are we doomed?
– Is any of this new?
Keeping the lights on | Ralph Holz 4
What are our problems, really?
– Critical infrastructure is vulnerable?
– Internet of Broken Things?
– Advanced Persistent Threat?
– Are we doomed?
– Is any of this new?
Keeping the lights on | Ralph Holz 4
What are our problems, really?
– Critical infrastructure is vulnerable?
– Internet of Broken Things?
– Advanced Persistent Threat?
– Are we doomed?
– Is any of this new?
Keeping the lights on | Ralph Holz 4
What are our problems, really?
– Critical infrastructure is vulnerable?
– Internet of Broken Things?
– Advanced Persistent Threat?
– Are we doomed?
– Is any of this new?
Keeping the lights on | Ralph Holz 4
The new threats?
– None of the security vulnerabilities are new in nature.
– The scale is new, but:
– It really is a case of a changed threat model.– The attackers are organised and better funded.– They have a very different motivation.
– But does this mean we need the latest and greatest?– Not wrong to invest, but make it defence-in-depth
Keeping the lights on | Ralph Holz 5
The new threats?
– None of the security vulnerabilities are new in nature.
– The scale is new, but:
– It really is a case of a changed threat model.– The attackers are organised and better funded.– They have a very different motivation.
– But does this mean we need the latest and greatest?– Not wrong to invest, but make it defence-in-depth
Keeping the lights on | Ralph Holz 5
What we really see
Figure: Covering the wrong bases (P. Gutmann, 2014)
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Where are the vulnerabilities?I would argue that we are getting most of the basics wrong.
– Server-land (from our own studies):– Even if good technology exists, it is not deployed
(complexity)– Complexity is the enemy of security– Delicate trade-offs between availability and security
(revenue!)
– Office-land:– Users are blamed (instead of usability)– Phishing and social engineering penetrate even the fanciest
defences
– Wrong advice is perpetuated in compliance-driven security
– Reaction to successful attack is neglected
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Measuring security
Any security technology whose effectiveness can’tbe empirically determined is indistinguishable fromblind luck. - Dan Geer
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Policy
– Vendors should not be allowed to sell Internet-facing productswithout a certification
– What we really need to think about is how to design security testsfor products
– This is the opposite of compliance-based security
– This is a job for policy-makers, not technologists
– Would love to see more evidence-based policy-making– Yes, that is a call for more security measurements
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Remedies: education in security
– Security needs to be an obligatory part of very curriculum– USYD: part of ‘Integrated IT’ core units
– Some engineering topics:– Assessing security in design and practice– Threat modelling– Privacy– Usability
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