It seems that Spring is “prime time” for security professionals in the Carolinas, and Charlotte seems to be at the center of it at least geographically if not organizationally. This year started with the 10th Annual InfoSec Summit organized by ISSA Charlotte. This was a successful year for the summit, bringing together more security professionals than any previous year. Our own Kevin Johnson opened the summit with a great thought-provoking keynote that left participants with something to talk about. I was lucky to be invited to not only speak about Web Services at the summit but also to teach the two-day MobiSec course.
But this summit is just the beginning and it looks like I am in for a few road trips! Coming up this weekend (May 16-18) is Carolinacon X (10), hosted in Raleigh. For those who have not been to this conference, it is reminiscent of a miniature Defcon. Imagine access to some of the same epic talks and events (CTF, lock-picking village, etc…) as Defcon only without the long lines and crowded/cattle-like conditions. Oh, and entry costs a “whopping” $20 at the door. I certainly plan to be there.
Next we have a trip to the beach with theTrainingCo’s Techno Security & Forensics Investigations Conference at Myrtle Beach (June 1-4). This is “the conference” to attend if you are doing or interested in pretty much any kind of computer forensics work, but especially for mobile devices. It is also one of the largest conferences in the Carolinas, drawing well over 1000 professionals for the past few years. Secure Ideas is sponsoring this event and Kevin and I plan to man a booth. If you are attending this conference, please stop by. We are working on getting some new Professionally Evil swag (I’m not yet sure what it will be this time).
On the heals of Techno Security is Asheville’s first ever BSides event (June 7) where I am very excited to be teaching an Intro to Python for Hackers class (evening June 6). This course is for all those hackers who keep telling themselves “some day I need to learn Python so I can write some 133t hacking scripts”. I’m perhaps even more excited to have a chance to showcase my Burp CO2 extension on Saturday. This BSides has some very active and enthusiastic volunteers so if you are within driving distance of Asheville, please consider coming out to participate and support this inaugural event.
And finally we are brought full-circle back to Charlotte for another BSides event on June 21st. This BSides will again be combined with SELF (SouthEast LinuxFest) as it was last year. Being in my home market I definitely plan to attend this one as well.
So there we have it: a whirlwind spring tour of the Carolinas in security conferences. If you live in or near the Carolinas I hope to see you at some of these events. If you see a Secure Ideas or Professionally Evil booth or someone in a t-shirt, stop and say “hi”. We don’t (often) bite, and we love to chat with other security/hacking enthusiast at any level.
Jason Gillam is a Senior Security Consultant with Secure Ideas. If you are in need of a penetration test or other security consulting services you can contact him at jgillam@secureideas.com, on Twitter @JGillam, or visit the Secure Ideas – ProfessionallyEvil site for services provided.