0311, 2020

Condolences and Sympathies to Families of the Victims #wienATTACK #0211w

René Pfeiffer/ November 3, 2020/ Conference

We wish to express our deepest condolences and sympathies to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured of last nights attacks in Vienna. Our thoughts are with them and the many women and men protecting the everyday life in the city. Vienna is one of the safest cities in Europe. Since 2007 the DeepSec team enjoys bringing you all to this wonderful city. We will continue to do this. Information security is a team effort and so is creating safe places for everyone. Don’t give the extremists the stage. Ignore them and care about the ones deserving your attention. Stay safe, stay healthy!

0311, 2017

Screening of “The Maze” at DeepSec 2017

René Pfeiffer/ November 3, 2017/ Administrivia, Conference, High Entropy

We have some news for you. Everyone attending DeepSec 2017 will get a cinematic finish on the last day of the conference. We will be showing The Maze by Friedrich Moser. For all who don’t know Friedrich’s works: He is the director of A Good American which was screened at DeepSec 2015. The Maze is a documentary covering terrorism, counter-terrorism, surveillance, business, and politics. So it’s basically information security in a nutshell. Right after the closing of DeepSec you can enjoy The Maze – with popcorn and hopefully everyone who is attending DeepSec. We have seen the documentary before, and we highly recommend it! The Maze from Friedrich Moser on Vimeo.

3009, 2015

DeepSec 2015 Talk: Cryptography Tools, Identity Vectors for „Djihadists“ – Julie Gommes

René Pfeiffer/ September 30, 2015/ Conference, Security, Security Intelligence

Some speak of Crypto Wars 2.0. For others the Crypto Wars have never ended. FBI Directory James Comey does not get tired of demanding back doors to IT infrastructure and devices (there is no difference between back door and front door, mind you). Let’s take a step back and look at the threats. We did this in 2011 with a talk by Duncan Campbell titled How Terrorists Encrypt. The audience at DeepSec 2011 was informed that encryption does not play a major role in major terror plots. What about today? Have terrorists adopted new means of communication? Since the authorities demanding access to protected information do not have statistics readily available, we turned to researchers who might answer this question. Julie Gommes will present the results of studies analysing the communication culture of criminal

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2511, 2012

DeepSec 2012 Talk: When I Grow up I want to be a Cyberterrorist

René Pfeiffer/ November 25, 2012/ Conference

We have asked Mike Kemp to give an overview of what to expect from his talk When I Grow up I want to be a Cyberterrorist: Terrorism is not big. It is not clever. It is definitely not funny (unless it involves pies in the face). It can however (like so much in life), be utterly absurd. To clarify, the reactions to it can be. The UK is the most surveiled place on earth (outside of Disneyland). The United Kingdom has lots of cameras, lots of privately collected and held data, lots of asinine legislation, and lots of panic. The media and political classes have conspired to protect the once freedom loving residents of the UK against themselves (and we are not alone in living the Panopticon dream). Frankly, it’s pissing me off. In

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3108, 2011

Talk: How Terrorists Encrypt

René Pfeiffer/ August 31, 2011/ Conference

Encryption technology has always been regarded as a weapon, due to its uses in wars and espionage. Software used for encryption was banned for export to other countries in the US. The export regulations for strong cryptography were relaxed in 1996. Some countries still consider cryptographic software as a threat. Recently there have been discussions in the USA again about controlling access to encrypted communication channels. The United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, India, and Saudi-Arabia legally attacked the BlackBerry’s strong encryption of the BlackBerry Messenger Service. Encrypted messaging was discussed in UK after the riots in August. Pakistan has banned all encryption and requires users to apply for a permit. Usually the proponents of regulations claim that terrorists and cybercrime are heavy users of strong cryptography. So how do terrorists really encrypt? Are there software

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