Schneier on Security

Has it really been 15 years? Time flies when keeping up with Moore’s law is the measure. In 1997, Jeff Moss held the very first Black Hat. He gathered together some of the best hackers and security minds of the time to discuss the current state of the hack. A unique and neutral field was created in which the security community—private, public, and independent practitioners alike could come together and exchange research, theories, and experiences with no vendor influences. That idea seems to have caught on. Jeff knew that Black Hat could serve the community best if it concentrated on finding research by some of the brightest minds of the day, and he had an uncanny knack for finding them. Please join Black Hat for this very special session, as we bring together 5 of the original 1997-98 speakers: Jeff Moss, Bruce Schneier, Marcus Ranum, Adam Shostack, and Jennifer Granick to share their vision of security over the next 15 years. One of Black Hat’s core values is its focus on cutting edge research and emergent technologies. So there will be no war stories in this session. Each speaker will have the opportunity to deliver his or her own view. Based on the track records, take good notes…

“Software could be more secure” may be the understatement of the century. Vulnerabilities have infested our code for as long as there’s *been* code. Nobody refutes the notion that we want more secure code; it is getting there that is the challenge – and also the focus of this debate. Software liability is oft-cited as one potential approach to creating more secure code. Clearly, there are strong advocates and as strong detractors. Today is the day we work everything out and decide whether software liability would be our saving grace or the kiss of death…