Security B-Sides - San Francisco

A number of people suggested that I offer to speak at the Security B-Sides next month when I'm in San Francisco for the RSA Conference. It looks to be an interesting collection of speakers and topics - but if you'd like me to speak, it would appear that you'll need to vote for my talk proposal.

To vote, go to your twitter account and send the following tweet:

I vote for "Your Computer is Worth 30 Cents" by @gollmann #BSidesSF

Whats the proposed topic?

Your Computer is Worth 30 Cents

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a war going on. Malware vendors, SEO consultants, exploit pack developers, content delivery specialists and botnet masters are battling for control of your computer. They’re not battling you or the security systems you’ve deployed – they won that war quite some time ago. No, they’re battling each other over who gets to own your computer – and consequently who gets to make money from it.

The botnet ecosystem is evolving at a rapid pace. Specialized services have come to fill every niche of the hacking world. The frontline is rarely the mechanical process of exploitation and infection – instead it lies with innovative 24x7 support and helpdesk ticketing systems – quality of service is the competitive edge. How much is your computer worth to them? The price point is dropping day-by-day, but 30 cents is a pretty average trade value. Why is it so low? Because your computer is only part of the ecosystem – and a commodity one at that.