Christina Johns is a Principal Malware Analyst at Red Canary with 15 years experience. Prior to becoming a malware analyst she worked in a variety of areas including web application assessment, android forensics, and incident response. Her research interests lie at the intersection of automating binary analysis and malware reverse engineering. She is the author of OpenSecurityTraining2’s Introductory IDA Debugging class. She has taught multiple intro to CTF workshops, volunteers with Women’s Cyberjutsu, and enjoys participating in CTFs to build her skills and help others do the same.

Look Ma, No IDA! Malware Analysis Without Reverse Engineering (<– add to your schedule)

Do you think malware analysis is out of your reach because assembly code looks like reading the matrix? Fear not, this talk will convince you that learning assembly code is not the best place to start your malware analysis journey. For starters, the modern malware landscape is diverse and malicious code isn’t always compiled into assembly. Not every use case for malware analysis requires a deep dive and there are many great tools and services that provide information about a malware sample you can build your analysis on.

If you work as an incident responder, detection engineer, threat hunter, or intel analyst, you probably already do some malware analysis but don’t realize it. And if you don’t but would like to, this talk will discuss the tools and knowledge you should focus on first before embarking on groking the intel x86 manual.

Come see Christina Johns at RVAsec 13!

Paul Asadoorian is currently a Principal Security Researcher for Eclypsium, focused on firmware and supply chain security. Paul’s passion for firmware security extends back many years to the WRT54G hacking days and reverse engineering firmware on IoT devices for fun. Paul and his long-time podcast co-host Larry Pesce co-authored the book “WRTG54G Ultimate Hacking” in 2007, which fueled the firmware hacking fire even more. In 2005, Paul founded Security Weekly, a weekly podcast dedicated to hacking and information security. Paul grew Security Weekly into a network of security podcasts spanning multiple topics, such as application security and business. Paul is still the host of one of the longest-running security podcasts, Paul’s Security Weekly, and hosts Eclypsium’s Below The Surface podcast. He enjoys coding in Python, hacking around on ESP32, and telling everyone he uses Linux as his daily driver desktop OS.

X (Twitter): @securityweekly

The Security Professional’s Guide To The Linux Desktop (<– add to your schedule)

Want to learn how running Linux as your desktop OS can make your life BETTER? This talk is for you! Every year the Linux nerds say, “This will be the year of the Linux desktop!”. If we put Android and ChromeOS aside for a moment, there has never been such a year. However, I switched to Linux on my laptops in 2016 and fully converted all my desktops in 2019. I’m never looking back. Many of you reading this are already thinking/voicing your opinions. I’ve heard for so many years, “I don’t want to run Linux as my desktop because [blank]”. This talk will dispel the myths and hopefully getting you on team Linux desktop! If you are open-minded about Linux as a desktop, haven’t tried it in a while, worried about Windows 10 going end-of-support in 2025, and want to learn about the benefits of the Linux desktop, this talk is for you. Maybe you even use Linux as your desktop OS and just want some tips and tricks; this is the talk for you. If you’ve already decided that Windows or MacOS is perfectly fine and Linux is just annoying, this talk may not be for you.

Come see Paul Asadoorian at RVAsec 13!

Ross Merritt is a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran, Former Private Investigator, Performing Comedian, and a Cyber Security Consultant at Blue Bastion specializing in Social Engineering and OSINT.

Improv Comedy for Social Engineering (<– add to your schedule)

This workshop that introduces the techniques used in Improv Comedy and applies them to skills used in the OFFSEC field to enable the participants to better communicate, think on their feet, and gain confidence when operating in the unknown.

Come see Ross Merritt at RVAsec 13!

Jason Ross is a passionate cybersecurity expert with a diverse skillset in Penetration Testing, Cloud Security, OSINT, DevOps Security, and Incident Response. As a lead security engineer at Salesforce, Jason oversees security evaluations and penetration tests — most recently with a specific focus on AI and Large Language Models. Jason is active in the security community, frequently speaking at industry events, and is committed to education as an adjunct faculty member at the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Global Cybersecurity Institute. X (Twitter): @rossja

Unlocking Generative AI: Balancing Innovation with Security (<– add to your schedule)

Join us for ‘Unlocking Generative AI: Balancing Innovation with Security’ as we navigate the complex landscape of generative AI in corporate environments. From understanding the fundamentals to exploring security threats like data poisoning and model theft, discover how large enterprises can safeguard sensitive data and AI models. Learn robust mitigation strategies to tackle these challenges head-on, ensuring a secure future for AI innovation. Don’t miss this opportunity to delve into the promising yet challenging world of generative AI security.

Come see Jason Ross at RVAsec 13!

I’ve spent the past 10+ years working on or helping people work on software. I was also a professional educator previously in my career, so I have a particular passion for helping people more easily understand difficult concepts. I currently work at AWS, and I’m focused on helping people learn through experience by using AWS GameDay. X (Twitter): @amsxbg

Secure Legends GameDay – A Cloud Security Danger Room (<– add to your schedule)

Bring a laptop for this interactive session, because we’ll be diving into a real environment together and learning how to prepare for the unique security threats faced in a cloud environment. I’ll be your guide as we work to increase the security posture of a fictional startup called Unicorn.Rentals.

Come see AM Grobelny at RVAsec 13!

Ariyan Bakhti-Suroosh is a senior security consultant on the Attack and Penetration team under Optiv’s Threat Management divison. Ariyan has a diverse background in information technology caused by an exigent curiosity for how things work. Ariyan has over 5 years of experience in comprehensive internal and external penetration testing of large enterprise environments as well as focused targeted attacks against small targets. Ariyan’s area of expertise is in physical facility penentration test where he has put together training for Optiv as well as delivered a talk at SANS Hackfest on methodology and execution. X (Twitter): @pursuit_of_root

Its Coming From Inside the House: A Guide to Physical Facility Penetration Testing (<– add to your schedule)

Physical security is crucial to any organization; however, physical security sometimes takes a back seat. Many companies still maintain a physical office presence, and protecting employees working from the office, along with other critical assets is vitally important as protecting networks. An attacker gaining access into a building through social engineering or other means of physical entry could jeopardize those critical assets and employee’s safety. Attackers may access unattended workstations, open file cabinets, server rooms, or other information inside the organization. Skilled attackers may only need a few moments to slip into a building and plant a remote access device on the network without anyone noticing they were in the building.

Come see Ariyan Suroosh at RVAsec 13!

Oren Koren is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Veriti. Oren brings 19 years of experience in cybersecurity, advanced threat analysis, and product management. Prior to founding Veriti, Oren was a Senior Product Manager at Check Point Software Technologies, where he led AI-based innovations and advanced data analytics projects redefining threat hunting and SIEM applications. Before Check Point, Oren served for 14 years in the prestigious 8200 unit and was responsible for various cybersecurity activities and research. Oren’s allocades include the Israeli Security Award and 3 MoD (Ministry of Defense) awards for cutting-edge innovations in cyber security. X (Twitter): @orenkorenCLO

Verified for Business Continuity: How to Remediate Risk Safely Across the Enterprise (<– add to your schedule)

Remediation can feel like a high-wire act, balancing the need to close exposures against the imperative of maintaining business continuity. This talk addresses the quintessential challenge: how can organizations utilize their existing arsenal of security tools to remediate vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and exposures without halting the business engine? Glean insights from a seasoned industry expert on leveraging security logs, configurations, and threat intelligence to unearth exposures, teaching CISOs to navigate this delicate balance.

Come see Oren Koren at RVAsec 13!

Jennifer Shannon is a Senior Security Consultant at Secure Ideas with a background in malware analysis, penetration testing, and training. An avid computer geek for most of her life, she began her journey in cybersecurity as a SOC Analyst where she showed an aptitude for both penetration testing and malware analysis. She has experience performing penetration tests against web applications, mobile software and platforms, and physical security assessments.

Jennifer discovered a passion for computers and problem solving at a young age. She bought Steal This Computer Book 2.0, by Wallace Wang, with one of her first paychecks, and became enamored with hacking and cyber security. While pursuing her degree she dedicated time to teaching computing skills to underrepresented minorities. She is the co-leader for the TOOOL chapter in Jacksonville, FL. Jennifer continues to be passionate about teaching and is eager to share her knowledge with others.
X (Twitter): @Jencrypti0n

API-ocalypse (<– add to your schedule)

Get ready for a wild ride as Jennifer Shannon, a Senior Security Consultant at Secure Ideas, takes the stage to present “”API-ocalypse”” In this thrilling and entertaining session, Jennifer will showcase the vulnerabilities lurking within APIs and the havoc they can wreak if left unaddressed. Through live pentesting demos, she will demonstrate jaw-dropping exploits, mind-bending injection attacks, and authentication bypass techniques that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Join Jennifer as she navigates the dark side of API’s to help you understand and fortify your attack surface in order to prevent the impending API-ocalypse.

Come see Jennifer Shannon at RVAsec 13!