Simple Nomad's Blog
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31Jan2007 - Some Vindication
Looks like the NCC talk didn't go over that well, as they "loved it" but "could you do something less technical?" Ah well, I knew I was in trouble as I watched the crowd glaze over. Looks like Chicago on the 28th of February will be a bit different. Considering the vindication I've gotten from a recent SF article after I've been quoting $40k-$110k for private exploits, I'll probably just update my talk on cybercrime and give that. The real sad thing is the main thing I'll be changing is the numbers, plus the slide that says Vista is better but still not the solution.
I caught a lot of shit from friends saying I was full of it when relaying these high prices, so at least I can point and say "see?". It's not my fault people are going nuts on this pricing stuff. I was warning people about this crap almost 5 years ago when we started seeing prices hit $3500 for a 0day.
17Jan2007 - Lazy Blogger
Been a while since I've updated this thing, so maybe it is high time I actually did it. Instead of trying to catch everything up one my seemingly meaningless life, I'll just stick to the present.
I've developed a very odd habit that has become rather entertaining. I find myself going on various IRC channels and helping out newbies with various computer problems, most security related. I go in as Simple Nomad, however most of these n00bs have no idea who I am or anything, so I get subjected to the same harassment and insults as any other new person on their channels. It can be quite entertaining, and it certainly deflated whatever inflated ego I might get otherwise. I let them talk trash and I take it, but I do answer questions accurately and correct those that are speaking incorrectly. I call it charity work. It's like feeding the homeless, except they are clueless instead of homeless.
Work has been fun since the shipment of the 8800. I am still responsible for writing and testing various IPS signatures (and approving the ones we've outsourced) but I've also been doing a lot more press interviews and speaking gigs. I've been averaging one per month, plus the monthly trip to work HQ to prove I am an employee. I think the increase is mainly due to the fact that they let our VP of Marketing go and haven't hired his replacement yet. As a small company there aren't a lot of official "spokespeople", so I've been taking up the slack in that area. I guess the good thing is I get to attend various dinners with important people on occassion and upper management all know my name, but one could argue that the downside is I have to attend various dinners with important people and upper management all know my name ;-)
One good that has happened since the 8800 shipping is that I've managed to squeeze in a few research tidbits. The more interesting ones involve the exploration of bypassing security devices such as our 8800. If I can bypass that, odds are I can bypass some of the other boxes on the market. That's been a lot of fun. The unfortunate part of it is I can't get my hands on most IPS solutions out there to test some of my theories (Vernier ain't as big as BindView was when I was there, and Vernier does not have people 100% dedicated to competitive intelligence like BindView did). If anyone out there has extra IDS/IPS equipment lying around they'd like to give a good home, contact me with details. I have some seriously evil things to test, and I'll give you the results before said results go public. You can even loan me the hardware, I can probably cover shipping.
Upcoming speaking gigs include a couple of talks involving one of Vernier's partners, NCC Networks. The talks are in Arizone and Chicago, check NCC's website for more details. In March I have a MISTI conference in Orlando as well as ShmooCon that I will at least be attending and helping out with their network. No word if I will be speaking there or not as of yet. There is also DallasCon in May, plus a few other gigs pending. Guess I'll hit Platinum this year with my frequent flyer miles. Anyway, if you're at any of these events come up and say hi.
I'm currently looking into setting up a MythTV box at home to compliment the Dish Network DVR. The plan is to take the DVR apart and figure out a way to copy recorded content to the MythTV box. I have to put my LG to proper use. As this progresses I'll keep everyone updated on my progress.
As usual, I'm typing this midflight on a flight that was delayed heading out of San Jose back home. I am guessing I should be walking in the door at home around 2am. For those of you keeping score, there are exactly 22 passengers on this flight (so the upgrade was easy, although I could have had a row to myself in the back) and no beaconing SSIDs out there from the other laptops. If you don't know what I am refering to, check out my ShmooCon 2006 talk which is now online.