Security BSides St John's 2015 Call for Papers is Open

Security BSides St John's Call for Papers is open!

BSides St. John’s 2015 is happening on September 25th, and will consist of a single speaking track. Regular presentation slot lengths are a fixed duration of 45 minutes plus 15 minutes for Q&A if necessary. For 2015, BSides St. John’s is also accepting submissions for Lightning Talks. They will be limited to 10-15 minutes in duration and typically consist of 2 to 3 presentation slides. We are hoping that this short presentation time will encourage those new to presenting to submit.

We are currently investigating our options to live stream the event and record all presentations for later distribution. If the recording and live streaming of your presentation poses an issue for you then please contact us to discuss your concerns.

It is important to note that any presentations or talks deemed to be of a marketing or sales pitch nature will be politely rejected.

Submissions will be in plain text and should address the following points

• Your preferred email address
• Are you representing anyone (yourself, company name, group name)
• The title and abstract for your presentation
• Approximate length of your presentation

Additionally, your submission should answer the following questions:

• Has this material been presented elsewhere? If so, where and when?
• May we record and stream your presentation? If not, why?
• Will you be travelling to the event? If so, from where?

Submissions must be emailed to BSidesStJohns@gmail.com. The CFP opens on July 1st and the deadline for submissions is September 10th. A confirmation of receipt of your submission will be sent within 48 hours. A follow-up email, if required, will be sent to you requesting further information or clarification.

Submissions will be reviewed as they are submitted. Submitter’s will receive a personal response to their submission with our decision as to whether it has been accepted within two weeks of their submission date.

All submissions are greatly appreciated and we thank you in advance for your interest in BSides St. John’s 2015.

Security BSides St John's 2013 Call for Papers

Call for Papers is open!

Will you step up to the podium this Fall?

BSides St. John’s 2013 is happening on October 18th, and will consist of a single speaking track. Regular presentation slot lengths are a fixed duration of 45 minutes plus 15 minutes for Q&A if necessary. And for 2013, BSides St. John’s is also accepting submissions for Lightning Talks. They will be limited to 10-15 minutes in duration and typically consist of 2 to 3 presentation slides. We are hoping that this short presentation time will encourage those new to presenting to submit.


We are currently investigating our options but hope to live stream the event and record all presentations for later distribution. If the recording and live streaming of your presentation poses an issue for you then please contact us to discuss your concerns.

It is important to note that any presentations or talks deemed to be of a marketing or sales pitch nature will be politely rejected.
Submissions will be in plain text and should address the following points:

• Your preferred email address
• Are you are representing anyone (yourself, company name, group name)
• The title and abstract for your presentation
• Approximate length of your presentation

Additionally, your submission should answer the following questions:

• Has this material been presented elsewhere? If so, where and when?
• May we record and stream your presentation? If not, why?
• Will you be traveling to the event? If so, from where?

Growing the Security Community in Newfoundland

Submissions must be emailed to BSidesStJohns@gmail.com. The CFP opens on June 27th and the deadline for submissions is October 4th. A confirmation of receipt of your submission will be sent within 48 hours. A follow-up email, if required, will be sent to you requesting further information or clarification.

Submissions will be reviewed as they are submitted. Submitter's will receive a personal response to their submission with our decision as to whether it has been accepted within two weeks of their submission date.

All submissions are greatly appreciated and we thank you in advance for your interest in BSides St. John’s 2013.

Anatomy of an Apache vulnerability report

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

BSides St John's 2012 in Pictures

BSides St John's 2012 has come and passed, however we can relive the fun reviewing some photos I took during the event...

The early morning audience awaiting the beginning of the conference.

Norbert welcoming the attendees, speakers, and sponsors to the conference.

Mark Nunnikhoven: The Basics & Other Things That We're Probably Doing Wrong. 

View from the back of the room.

Jamie Goodyear: Anatomy of an Apache vulnerability report, and Secure Release Management

The view from the podium.

Russ Diucet: Key Considerations in Securing Internet Access.

Karim Nathoo: Command and Control and Data Exfiltration, Version 2.0

Kellman Meghu: How NOT To Do Security: Lessons Learned From the Galactic Empire 

Bruno Germain: Services defence in depth: an emerging paradigm for protecting the Data Center

The audience towards the end of the conference talks.

I'd like to thank again our sponsors, speakers, organizers, volunteers, and our outstanding audience for making BSides St John's 2012 a successes!

BSides St John's Security Conference 2012 Schedule

The BSides St John's Security Conference 2012 Schedule is out!

Friday September 21st, 2012	Track 1
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM	Registration\Networking - Coffee and Muffins Served
9:00 AM - 9:10 AM	Opening Remarks
9:10 AM- 9:50 AM	Name: Mark Nunnikhoven Talk: The Basics and Other Things That We're Probably Doing Wrong
10:00 AM - 10:20 AM	Name: Jamie Goodyear Talk: Anatomy of an Apache vulnerability report, and Secure Release Management
10:30 AM - 11:20 AM	Name: Russ Doucet Talk: Key Considerations in Securing Internet Access
11:30 AM - 12:20 AM	Name: Karim Nathoo Talk: Command and Control and Data Exfiltration, Version 2.0
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM	LUNCH
1:30 PM - 2:20 PM	Name: Kellman Meghu Talk: How NOT To Do Security: Lessons Learned From the Galactic Empire
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM	Name: Darryl MacLeod Talk: Have Credentials, Will Travel... Literally.
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM	Break
3:30 PM - 4:20 PM	Name: Bruno Germain Talk: Services defense in depth: an emerging paradigm for protecting the Data Center
4:30 PM - 5:20 PM	Name: Stefano Tiranardi Talk: Today's Threat Landscape – Facts, Figures, Myths and Perceptions
5:30 PM - 6:00 PM	Grand Prize (**iPad**) Give Away
6:00 PM - Onwards	Finger Foods\Drinks and Social Gathering

A time to look back on 2011.

It's that time of the year again when we look back upon what was. I'd like to take a few moments and reflect on some of the geekier high lights of things I was involved with, and with that in mind head on towards 2012.

Happy 1 << 5 years!:

To kick off the year the Department of Computer Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland celebrated its 32 years. Staff, students, and friends all gathered at the campus bar Bitters for a scoff, share a few yarns, and single malt scotch. Good times were had by all.

Paper Published:

This was a long time in the making, my thesis was published in Springer Communications in Computer and Information Science under the publication for "Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies, Third International Joint Conference, BIOSTEC 2010, Valencia, Spain, January 20-23, 2010, Revised Selected Papers". Since then several students at my alma mater have continued on the project, adding new features, exploring aspects of the design.

The Winter CS Games:

Each winter semester at the Department of Computer Science of Memorial University of Newfoundland we hold a pair of programming competitions following ACM rules. One competition sets individual programmers on three algorithm challenges, with the top three scoring competitors being awarded a small prize. The second competition is for groups of two competitors, again with three algorithm challenges with corresponding prizes. I really enjoyed this series of games as we had a record number of competitors register for the competitions, and some really great prizes to hand out to the students.

Security B-Sides Conference St John's 2011:

About midway through the year the Security B-Sides conference St John's NL event was held. This event brought together near 140 security experts, industry professionals and others in their community to directly connect, share ideas, insights, and develop long lasting relationships while discussing some of the major IT security related topics pressing in today's environments.

The Fall CS Games:

Each fall semester at the Department of Computer Science of Memorial University of Newfoundland we hold a pair of programming competitions following ACM rules. One competition is for groups of three  competitors, in which the teams must solve three algorithm challenges. The highest scoring team moves on to the next round of the larger ACM games. The second competition sets individual programmers on three algorithm challenges, again with the top three scoring competitors being awarded a small prize.
The fall games had record attendance, straining our ability to handle so much interest from students. I really hope the trend continues into 2012.

Mentoring Apache Development:

As my blog's tittle suggests, I'm developing Open Source development here in Newfoundland. There really isn't a very large software development community around here, so if you want to talk about technologies, methodologies, and related practices you have to actively seek out others to share your interests. Luckily I have another active Apache Developer in town, but it's nice to expand the community.
To that end I've taken on another local developer and have started to help them become aquatinted with the Apache Way, starting with a focus on Apache Incubator Kalumet.

IGDA-NL Chapter:

The International Game Developer Association Newfoundland Chapter started up in ernest this past fall. I've been trying to help this group gain traction by getting the word out about their meetings and helping to bring attention to the accomplishments of some of their members. Earlier in the year I managed to arrange a few moments to talk with Celsius Studios and Binary Dawn about their experiences here in Newfoundland, these conversations can be viewed at Techvibes: Binary Dawn on WordUs2, and Celsius Studios on Red Nova.

Guest Lecturing:

I had two opportunities in 2011 to provide talks to CS 3716 Software Methodologies classes at Memorial University. Both experiences were fun, I focussed on various subjects including a brief introduction to the Apache Way, the projects I've worked on, my views on technology (locally grown and in general), and project management (specifically talking about Apache Karaf).

Apache Karaf Releases:

Over the past year I've had the honor to head up the release efforts for ten Apache Karaf releases. During these events I'd make mention of my wine and music selection to accompany the release process. For those of you interested in taking a tastefully musical review of our past years' releases I have put together the below table:

Version	Wine	Music
2.2.5	Maison Sichel Bordeaux 2009	City and Colour
2.2.4	Quinta São João Batista Syrah Reserva 2007	Hawksley Workman
2.2.3	Chateau Roc de Bernon Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion 2006	Joel Plaskett
2.2.2	Terre Dei Volsci Velletri Rosso Riserva 2004	Wintersleep
2.2.1	Carpineto Chianti Castaldo 2008	Hey Rossetta
2.2.0	Castello D'Albola Chianti Classico 2007	Our Lady Peace
2.1.6	François Pélissié Croix du Mayne Cahors 2008	Wreckhouse International Jazz and Blues Festival
2.1.5	Jacob's Creek Merlot 2007	The Novaks
2.1.4	Ricossa Antica Casa Barbera D'asti 2009	Metric
2.1.3	Rosemount Cabernet Sauvignon 2008	Tegan and Sara

So what do I see for 2012?

Good question!

For Apache Karaf I see...

• The highly anticipated Apache Karaf 3.0.0 release should come to reality :)
• Releases of Apache Karaf's new sub projects.
• Apache Karaf 2.2.x and 3.0.x patch releases should come out on a regular basis.
• New Apache Karaf 2.3.x and 3.1.x branches may make their appearances.

In the local Newfoundland tech circles I follow, I see...

• Continued CS Games in the Winter and Fall 2012 semesters.
• Growth of the IGDA-NL Chapter (more meetings and events).
• More speaking opportunities at Mun CS Department via their Departmental Seminars and Guest Lecturing.

I know nothing earth shaking is listed above, but in context the above represents a lot of efforts, community growth, and optimism for the future :)

Before I end this rambling post, I'd like to share the below video for Bandages by Hey Rosetta! It's my favorite song by local talent for 2011, and its' video features many beautiful scenes of Newfoundland. While enjoying the music I'm opening a bottle of Auk Island Winery's Nautica (Blueberry Shiraz).

Music, Wine, Community, and Open Source Software Development in Newfoundland - 2011 was great, here's to 2012 :)

Security BSides St John's Recap!

Did you miss Security BSides St John's? If you did then you'll probably want to read my in-depth recap of all the events : An in-depth look back on Newfoundland's first ever Security BSides conference.

Afterwards, you may want to check out the conference photos.

I'd like to take this opportunity again to thank Norbert Griffin, Travis Barlow, Victoria Vuong, the presenters, and all of the sponsors for all of their hard work and support putting together this great event. Hope to see you all again next year for another BSides!

Security BSides St John's 2011 in photos

I'll be writing up a more detailed recap of the events surrounding the Security BSides St John's 2011 conference, but thought I'd share some of the moments with you as a photo essay.

Before the conference could begin conference attendees arriving from out of province were made honorary Newfoundlanders.

The conference attendees arriving early Friday morning.

The stage is set, and the conference is ready to start!

Nobert Griffin welcomes the near 140 conference attendees and delivers the keynote address.

Travis Barlow started the talks by telling the audience some of his experiences in penetration testing (see "Chasing Turkeys").

Mark Nunnikhoven then provided his in depth analysis of the security issues involved with iOS devices on your network (see "iPads: Love'm, Hate'em, You're going to have to deal with'em"). 

Ajay Sood brought the attendees up to date on the latest trends in malware (see "Modern Malware Exposed!").

Jean-Pier Talbot provided a hands on example of cross site scripting vulnerabilities.

After this hands on talk the conference braked for lunch on site at ClubOne. This gave all of the audience a chance to meet up with the presenters one on one to further discuss the issues they presented during the morning session.

Jon Anstey delivered a talk aimed towards application developers using Apache Camel. To anyone familiar with implementing EIPs this was a great introduction to handling data in a secure manner (see "How to secure your Apache Camel Deployment").  

Kellman Meghu was in the right city to talk about the cloud, seeing that St John's likes to keep the clouds firmly at ground level ;) (see "Virtually Safe?") 

Tim Newell provided a nuanced discussion on the challenges we face providing remote access to our system users (see "Having your cake and eating it - Remote Access Security").

Adam Mosher ended the talks with his review of Anti-forensics (see "Evasion with anti-forensics").

After all of the talks had been delivered the attendees were invited over to Dusk Lounge to continue discussing the presented talks, network, and enjoy getting to know our peers. 

I'd like to take a moment to thank Norbert Griffin, Travis Barlow, and Victoria Vuong for all of their hard work to make this BSides possible. I hope that next year the organizers of this BSides conference will be willing to put together another event - this whole event was so much fun!