Tag Archive for: conference

Cybersecurity on the farm conference to address internet security


The farming sector is sometimes targeted by cybercriminals because of farming’s critical function — supplying the food and fiber that humans and animals depend upon.

The first of its kind Cybersecurity on the Farm Conference, offered by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, will be held at the Iowa State University Alumni Center in Ames on Jan. 11, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

In an era where technology is reshaping every industry, farming stands at the crossroads of innovation and tradition. This one-day conference is designed to address the unique intersection of today’s agriculture and cybersecurity.

For farmers, this workshop offers insights into the ever-evolving world of digital lending in farming and the shift toward online agricultural marketplaces. There will be critical discussions on the potential cyber threats that emerge when working in the agricultural sector. By the end of the day, farmers will be better equipped to navigate farming on the internet while keeping a keen eye on safety and security.

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Networking, a live hacking event & more at this year’s DefCamp cybersecurity conference in Bucharest


DefCamp, a leading cybersecurity conference in the region, will hold its 13th edition this month, November 23-24. For the first time, this year’s edition features a live hacking event, where participants will try to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems in real-time, in addition to various networking and educational activities.

The Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions are a highlight of the event, attracting numerous competitors to DefCamp’s Hacking Village, the playground dedicated to cybersecurity education and knowledge development, with total prizes of up to EUR 100,000. 

The qualifiers for DefCamp Capture the Flag (D-CTF), the largest CTF competition in the Central and Eastern European region, attracted more than 600 teams from over 80 countries. Of these, the top 16 teams are invited to the final that will take place live and where participants from Romania, Italy, Norway, Germany, Greece, France, Austria, and Croatia are expected to participate.

“Year after year, we strive to provide participants with the right setting for information exchange, collaboration, and networking by bringing some of the most relevant international experts in the field to the conference stages. At the same time, we aim to further develop the cybersecurity knowledge learning and testing playground, Hacking Village, by designing new activities and increasingly stimulating challenges, and bringing together relevant partners. The live hacking event we are hosting this year will certainly be one of the hardest challenges for the participants, but it will also be equally rewarding,” said Andrei Avadanei, founder of DefCamp.

This year, in addition to D-CTF, DefCamp 2023 participants can compete in 12 other Hacking Village activities. The CyberEDU educational technical platform will host 7 of the 12 activities. Participants can choose from a range of hardware, software, and network hacking challenges, digital forensics, reverse engineering, and more.

“In addition to organizing Hacking Village competitions, DefCamp is becoming an increasingly relevant event for the industry, with each edition providing a training and development platform for cybersecurity enthusiasts,…

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A sneak preview of the first ever international Nuclear Security Training and Demonstration Centre (NSTDC) and the training activities planned to start in October 2023 was given today during a side event held at the margins of the 67th IAEA General Conference


A sneak preview of the first ever international Nuclear Security Training and Demonstration Centre (NSTDC) and the training activities planned to start in October 2023 was given today during a side event held at the margins of the 67th IAEA General Conference.  

Lydie Evrard, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, highlighted the unique nature of the new IAEA facility, noting that “the NSTDC is built to respond to growing requests by countries for capacity building in the field of nuclear security that could not be met elsewhere.”  

“The IAEA has developed a training programme that will complement the existing national and international mechanisms of nuclear security capacity building,” said in her remarks.  

The NSTDC is housed in a new multipurpose building (MPB) located at the IAEA’s laboratories in Seibersdorf, 30 km south of Vienna, Austria. The MPB construction work started in July 2021, after the Director General of the IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, broke ground for the new facility

Under the NSTDC training programme, there are currently 23 training courses and workshops. All of them address training needs in the area of physical protection of nuclear and other radioactive material and associated facilities; and in the area of detection and response to criminal or intentional unauthorized acts involving or directed at nuclear or other radioactive material, associated facilities or associated activities.  

Considering the IAEA work for cancer care, the NSTDC training programme includes a course for countries anticipating in or planning to join the Rays of Hope titled “Introduction to life cycle security of radioactive material and associated facilities in cancer care”. The course aims to familiarize participants with key considerations towards ensuring life cycle security and sustainability of radioactive material and associated facilities used for cancer care, including information and computer security aspects of nuclear security. 

“The NSTDC is a modern, specialized training facility, supported by state-of-the-art technical infrastructure,” said Marina Labyntseva, Head of the Education and…

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‘Treat it like China’: How U.S. officials stay safe, and have fun, at the world’s biggest hacking conference


When you spend three days with 30,000 people who love cracking code, you’re always just one errant click away from sheep-dom. In fact, fending off the maze of Wi-Fi sniffers, hardware hackers and social engineers at DEF CON is a little like going toe-to-toe with elite, state-backed cyber spies, according to one senior State Department official.

“Almost treat it like going to China,” said the official, granted anonymity to offer frank and colorful advice to a DEF CON first-timer. “Really treat it like going to a technologically sophisticated peer competitor.”

At this year’s conference, which wraps up Sunday, the Wall of Sheep was located in a dimly lit auditorium off the main conference floor. It included, for the first time ever, a live feed with the location of individuals who were leaking data. As of Friday afternoon, there were at least 2,000 sheep at DEF CON, per the floor-to-ceiling projection. Their personal information was, mercifully, partly blacked out for privacy reasons.

Since the first-ever convention in 1993, DEF CON has brought some of the world’s most talented computer security wizards into the Las Vegas desert to scour software, hardware and networking equipment in search of vulnerabilities.

Operating under the principle that the best way to secure computer code is to expose it, attendees have demonstrated some truly jaw-dropping research over the last three decades. They’ve taken over the controls of cars, tricked ATMs to spew out cash and sent insulin pumps into overdrive, to name a few memorable hacks.

Feats like that have turned the convention into an increasingly common pit stop for top U.S. government officials, dozens of whom are in attendance this year. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, CISA Director Jen Easterly and Acting National Cyber Director Kemba Walden are all in Las Vegas for DEF CON and Black Hat, its more corporate-friendly counterpart.

But the convention didn’t earn its reputation as “the world’s most hostile network” just because of what happens on the main stage.

“There is a criminal ecosystem out there,” said Marc Rogers, the conference’s head of security. “You probably don’t want to access your…

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