Infosecurity.US

Information Security & Occasional Forays Into Adjacent Realms

  • Web Log

BSides Tampa 2019, Brian Etchieson's 'Beyond Lockpicking' →

February 13, 2019 by Marc Handelman in BSides Tampa, Conferences, Education, Physical Security, Physical Architecture, Irongeek

Videography Credit: Irongeek (Adrian Crenshaw).

February 13, 2019 /Marc Handelman
BSides Tampa, Conferences, Education, Physical Security, Physical Architecture, Irongeek

Image Credit: TeleGeography

Buried Internetworking Infrastructure: Risky Business →

July 23, 2018 by Marc Handelman in Physical Security, Physical Sciences, Physical Architecture, Internetwork Security, Undersea/Buried Cabling

A deeply (no pun intended) problematic physical security & connectivity planning scenario - specifically the lifespan of in-situ buried internetwork cabling (on, or near land) coupled with a paucity of outcome planning (in the Anthropocene Epoch...) is detailed by highly respected researcher - Paul Barford, Ph.D., a UW-Madison Professor of Computer Science resident at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Along with Carol Barford, Director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison UW-Madison Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment and Ramakrishnan Durairajan, Assistant Professor, CIS at the University of Oregon) have produced a study detailing failure risks (essentially a call to action, as the buried cable timeline has shriveled from a one hundred year life-span to somewhere less-than-fifty years) of buried internetworked cabling. Superb work. And, here's Rebecca Hersher's reporting for NPR on both the study, and the issues. Enjoy.

'"Most of the damage that's going to be done in the next 100 years will be done sooner than later," says Barford, an authority on the "physical internet" -- the buried fiber optic cables, data centers, traffic exchanges and termination points that are the nerve centers, arteries and hubs of the vast global information network. "That surprised us. The expectation was that we'd have 50 years to plan for it. We don't have 50 years."1 - Paul Barford, Ph.D. in an press-release published at EurekaAlert! (a service of AAAS).

July 23, 2018 /Marc Handelman
Physical Security, Physical Sciences, Physical Architecture, Internetwork Security, Undersea/Buried Cabling

The End of Humanity, AI Style: Or How I Learned to Admire RAND →

May 09, 2018 by Marc Handelman in Shall We Play A Game?, World War, Thermo-Nuclear War, Physical Architecture, Physical Security

Edward Geist, Andrew J. Lohn, writing at the RAND Corporation, have crafted a fascinating report targeting the potential for Artifical Intelligence to increase the already signifcant possibily of thermonuclear warfare (otherwise known as into-the-frying-pan-with-no-oil)... Today's Toasty MustRead!

May 09, 2018 /Marc Handelman
Shall We Play A Game?, World War, Thermo-Nuclear War, Physical Architecture, Physical Security

AWS Data Centers, Digital Tour →

January 19, 2018 by Marc Handelman in Cloud Security, Physical Security, Physical Architecture

Quick, entertaining and yet commendable 'digital tour' of a Amazon Web Services Data Center illustrating the security, thereof. Displaying the Datacenters security fundamentals, Security Controls inherent in their designs and People involved with securing and auditing the data assets of the company's customers. Recommended for executives and managers, and certainly light on the tech...

January 19, 2018 /Marc Handelman
Cloud Security, Physical Security, Physical Architecture

Sonic Weapon, The Deployment →

December 27, 2017 by Marc Handelman in Physical Security, Physical Architecture, Physical Sciences, USBDS

Superbly crafted piece - by Emily Waltz, writing at the IEEE's Spectrum Magazine - on the alleged sonic weapon deployed and implemented in Cuba, targeting lawful United States of America Department of State diplomats (and other countries career diplomats, as well) while in-country. We are certain the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the United States Marine Corps' Marine Security Guard Embassy Security Group are actively working these incidents befalling ours and other nations diplomats. Today's Must Read.

December 27, 2017 /Marc Handelman
Physical Security, Physical Architecture, Physical Sciences, USBDS

Image via The CMU CERT Blog

CMU/SEI, Tracy Cassidy's 'Technical Detection of Intended Violence: Workplace Violence as an Insider Threat' →

December 22, 2017 by Marc Handelman in Physical Security, Persistent Threats, Physical Architecture, Insider Attacks, Insider Threat, Workplace Violence

Superbly researched deep dive within the Insider Threat realm, this time by Tracy Cassidy (Insider Threat Researcher at the CERT National Insider Threat Center. A Good and Necessary Read.

December 22, 2017 /Marc Handelman
Physical Security, Persistent Threats, Physical Architecture, Insider Attacks, Insider Threat, Workplace Violence

Walt Builds a Family Fallout Shelter →

September 29, 2017 by Marc Handelman in Physical Security, Physical Architecture
September 29, 2017 /Marc Handelman
Physical Security, Physical Architecture