EspañolAnd here you have the 3rd Security Blogger Summit highlights (Second part), where our speakers discussed about the implications and potential future of cyberwar. Divided in three parts:
9th Feb, 2011
Highlights of the 3rd Security Blogger Summit: Cyber-war
We can watch the highlights of the 3rd Security Blogger Summit highlights (first part), where our speakers talked about cyber-activism and how it affects or could affect society. Divided in three parts:
9th Feb, 2011
Thanks everybody!!!
After months of preparation we finally held the Third Annual Security Blogger Summit last Thursday 3. On behalf of everyone in the team, I’d like to thank you all as the event truly exceeded all our expectations! It was attended by more than 300 people who contributed to an outstanding evening at the Circulo de Bella Artes in Madrid. Out of all the editions held so far, this is the one that has satisfied us the most.
Thanks a million too to all the friends that helped us prepare and publicize the event and those who came to share a day full of good memories with us. Finally, thanks to all the speakers and the moderator (even though he doesn’t like blondes ;-)) . I believe we have all contributed to shed some light on a series of hot topics right now.
We will soon finish preparing a series of video summaries, meanwhile here is the press release with the main conclusions drawn at the event.
Cyber-activism and cyber-war, main issues at the 3rd Security Blogger Summit
The 3rd Security Blogger Summit, held last week in Madrid, focused on cyber-activism and cyber-war as well as on the new dangers posed to users and institutions on the Internet. The roundtable discussion centered around the most recent examples of these emerging phenomenons, international cooperation and the limits to these activities on the Web. The discussion also centered on the new trends for 2011 and the legal framework against this type of Web activity.
This year, the meeting organized by Panda Security, The Cloud Security Company, has placed itself among one of the main events for bloggers worldwide as shown by the more than 300 technology and computer security experts and bloggers that attended it.
The Summit gathered an impressive line-up of renowned speakers and journalists such as Enrique Dans, Chema Alonso and Rubén Santamarta, as well as Elinor Mills and Bob McMillan, two of the most prominent IT security journalists from the US. All of them coincided in underlining the importance of these coordinated worldwide attacks on international institutions.
Cyber-activism: Internet protests and demonstrations
The 3rd Security Blogger Summit kicked off with a keynote by Enrique Dans, well-known blogger and professor at the IE Business School, which focused on the part played by cyber-activism in recent revolts like those in Iran, Tunisia or Egypt. He also insisted in the concept that social media have taken down the barriers of activism as “You can retweet a message and believe you’re already part of a cyber-activist movement.”
As for recent events regarding WikiLeaks and Web attacks in defense of Julian Assange, Enrique Dans explained that “There is no way to stop a phenomenon like WikiLeak. In the future anybody will be able to disclose relevant information from a website, as contaminated as this might be.”
Bob McMillan, a San Francisco-based computer security journalist explained that, in his opinion, “WikiLeaks is as important as The New York Times”. “WikiLeaks has helped those who wanted to expose sensible information, and to think of changing the legislation in the wake of a denial of service attack like those in the “Operation Avenge Assange” is very difficult, even though these examples of cyber-activism may seem legitimate to you”.
During the course of the debate moderated by Josu Franco, Corporate Strategy Director at Panda Security, Elinor Mills, senior writer at CNET News on security issues with over 20 years of experience in the security field indicated that “People have replaced neighbor meetings with Internet-based tools”.
Chema Alonso, a URJC University Computer Engineer, postgraduate in Information Systems and author of the blog “Un Informático en el Lado del Mal”, added that “Technical evolution has changed the way people express themselves and now it is no longer necessary to gather 3 million people to attract some attention”. Rubén Santamarta, an IT researcher with over 10 years of experience in the reverse engineering and IT security fields, indicated that “Cyber-activism was born from the global situation we live in”.
When asked by the audience, Santamarta questioned the legality of cyber-activism vs. the apparent legitimacy of the initiatives behind it. “Users want honesty, and that’s the key of WikiLeaks”. “The worrying aspect is the lack of reaction from governments throughout the world after all the information disclosed by WikiLeaks”, said Enrique Dans.
Cyber-war: Reality versus sensationalism
The Summit participants discussed some of the most relevant examples of cyber-war, such as the alleged attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear plants using the Stuxnet Trojan, as well as Operation Aurora, concerning attacks on Google from China in order to steal corporate secrets.
Elinor Mills and Bob McMillan coincided in pointing out that the term ‘cyber-war’ was ‘too exaggerated’ for the actual events talking place. “We still do not know the real dimensions of cyber-war and it is easy to confuse it with espionage or even cyber-crime” explained Elinor Mills. Bob McMillan added that “Even though Stuxnet has been used as a cyber-weapon, that does not mean that we are already knee deep in a cyber-war. If there really was a cyber-war, it would be on a global scale, as the two Great Wars of the 20th century.”
Rubén Santamarta however insisted on the idea that the cyber-war phenomenon is at its early stages and it will probable become a reality in 10 years’ time. “We are talking about a war without an army. It is a fourth-generation war where it is possible to damage a country without having to invade it with soldiers. A country can have another one under control through the Internet even before they have declared war on each other.”
Santamarta also expressed his hope that “Not everybody is willing to launch attacks such as these”. Finally, Chema Alonso stated that “Fortunately at present, the people that can do such a thing are very few and must be extremely knowledgeable”.
26th Jan, 2011
The 3rd Security Blogger Summit is just around the corner
There’s just one week left until the third edition of the event that has become a reference point for security bloggers the world over. Registration for this year’s summit has been frenetic, and there are barely any places left.
This year, as always, we will be welcoming several IT security specialists as well as general Internet experts. In 2009, leading figures such as Bruce Schneier, Ero Carrera, Byron Acohido or Antonio Ortiz took part in the event. In 2010 we were glad to have Marcelo Rivero, Yago Jesús, Joseph Menn and Paloma Llaneza sharing their opinions about privacy on the Web. This year will see Enrique Dans, Bob McMillan, Chema Alonso, Elinor Mills and Rubén Santamarta debating the issue of cyber-terrorism and cyber-war.
We would also like to take the opportunity to congratulate Chema Alonso, as his blog, “Un informático en el lado del mal” celebrates its fifth anniversary today! It’s a pleasure to read posts such as “No te fíes de las rubias” (Never trust blondes), where he describes how Yolanda Ruiz, our Global Marcom Director, “persuaded” him to take part in the Summit; or the interview with Lorenzo Martínez, one of the Security By Default guys who we hope will participate in future events.
Well that’s it, we would recommend anyone who hasn’t registered to do it as soon as possible, as there are only a few places left. Simply send an email to comunicacion@pandasecurity.com and we will reserve your place. And if you can’t come, you can follow the event on Twitter, in English at @Panda_Security and in Spanish at @PandaComunica.
We look forward to seeing you!
10th Jan, 2011
Happy new year to you all!
We are back after the holiday season, and we start 2011 full of energy as the Third Annual Security Blogger Summit is just around the corner. Besides the event itself, supported with a simultaneous translation system, there will be a coffee break and a fantastic dinner/cocktail party, as well as a small gift for all attendees. To attend the event, please register by sending an email with your personal details to comunicacion@pandasecurity.com.
We are now ready to confirm the identity of all participants in our round table discussion (Bear in mind that there might be some last-minute addition before the date of the event):
- Enrique Dans: He hardly requires any introduction
. Professor of Information Systems at the IE Business School since 1990, a regular contributor with several media and a respected opinion leader regarding new technologies. He will give the keynote address that will open the discussion. - Elinor Mills: Senior writer at CNET News focusing on security issues, with over 20 years of experience in the business.
- Robert McMillan: Based in San Francisco, Robert McMillan is a journalist specializing in computer security. He covers cyber-crime, security products and IT professionals’ continuous fight to stay one step ahead of hackers. In 2010 he was named one of the top computer security journalists in the US by the SANS Institute.
- Chema Alonso: Studied IT engineering at URJC, and with a postgraduate degree in IT systems, he is currently working toward his doctorate in Web security. He’s been Security Advisor at Informática 64 for the last 10 years, and has received Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional Award in the security category six times. He will also be representing Spain’s National Cyber-Security Advisory Council.
- Rubén Santamarta: At just 28, Ruben is a security researcher with over ten years’ experience in the world of reverse engineering and IT security. He has discovered dozens of vulnerabilities in products from leading vendors including Microsoft, Apple, Symantec, Intel and Oracle. He has also uncovered security holes in industrial control and SCADA systems.
As in past editions of the summit, Josu Franco will moderate the round table discussion.
We are more than happy to welcome you to this new edition of the event. We look forward to seeing you!
14th Dec, 2010
3rd Security Blogger Summit 2011
We have just finished putting up our Christmas decorations in the communications office at Panda Security’s Madrid branch and the festive spirit is everywhere in the air. Yes, 2010 is coming to a close, and we all hope to start the new year in the best possible way. From a security point of view, the year 2010 has seen it all: worms attacking nuclear power plants, accusations from one country to another due to alleged cyber-attacks, document leaks of historic proportions and the subsequent prosecution of the perpetrator (Wikileaks), attacks on copyright societies, the emergence of a new form of cyber protest…
The truth is that in a world where exploiting the Internet for financial gain has become a professional trade for some, there is little room for surprises. This year has seen the emergence of new activities, trends and opinions that will undoubtedly represent a turning point and which will have to be followed closely in 2011.
So this year we have started working on the 3rd Security Blogger Summit 2011 early on (by the way, some of you had already started asking us about this year’s edition… Thank you guys, you know that events like this wouldn’t be possible without your help). We have already booked a place, taken care of all the logistics and even confirmed the presence of some of this year’s speakers.
This year’s SUBJECTCS (yeah, in capital letters) are as follows: cyber-activism and cyber-terrorism/cyber-war… Pretty impressive, isn’t it? We are sure topics like these will lead to some very interesting discussions.
Date: February 3
Place: Círculo de Bellas Artes, Sala Columnas, 4th floor.
Attendance: Free, including a coffee and snacks in the afternoon and a cocktail party at the end of the event.
What do you have to do to subscribe to this event? Well, it is actually very easy: Just send an email to comunicación@pandasecurity.com with your personal details and we will reply with your booking confirmation (even though there is still a bit of time for the event to take place).
We’ll let you know about this year’s panel of experts in a few days… but here is the scoop: the opening keynote will be delivered by Enrique Dans, who will later on join the round table discussion.
We’ll see you at the Summit!!