Joint meeting with IEEE Computer and Communications Societies

Internet and network security threats evolve rapidly in both their nature and techniques. The attacker community and their motivations are also evolving, driving the adoption of new and different tactics. Media hype and user paranoia result in a significant lack of understanding about what these threats really mean and how they can be mitigated. As more and more of our lives are linked to network connectivity, it's important to understand the types of risks and be able to weigh them intelligently. Many tools are available to protect network connected resources, but their strengths and weaknesses are often not well understood. New threats, such as targeted attacks are already changing the way modern defenses need to be deployed. This talk will explore today's realities and identify emerging trends in network security. Details of the attacker community will be discussed. Attack techniques will be presented with technical explanations. Attention will be given to practical solutions to reduce attack surfaces. The pros and cons of different tools will be examined, as will best practices for their implementation. Both personal and professional topics in information security will be discussed.