This afternoon I appeared on Sky News to discuss smartphone security. The news item was based on reports that cyber criminals are increasingly targeting mobile phones. Read More
Category: Blog Post
Talking passwords on BBC 5 Live
I was interviewed on BBC 5 Live this morning about whether we have reached ‘peak password’. I gave some advice on how people can better manage their passwords and, having been asked by 5 Live to write five top tips for password management, wanted to expand on my thoughts here:
Cyber Security Skills: part one
Unknown unknowns are a fundamental part of cyber security. Attribution of attacks, the scale of the problem, the amount of data and money lost and stolen: the list of things we don’t know is long and unlikely to shorten anytime soon. However, we can be certain of the demand our industry faces, the vacancies we need to fill and the variety of skills we need to better-meet our challenges.
In 2004, the global cyber security market was worth $3.5 billion; by 2017 it will be worth $120 billion. By 2019, the industry is set to offer over 4.5 million more jobs worldwide. Pretty much every company I know is recruiting. We need to hire more people. We also need to get better at attracting more women. Only 11% of the industry are women and so we are largely neglecting to hire 50% of the population. Over the last few years, the industry has also woken up to the fact that this is not a wholly technical subject and we need to hire people with more diverse backgrounds and experience. Read More
2016 Cyber Security Conferences – update
This week has seen some important changes in news about UK cyber security conferences:
- I’m sorry to see that 44CON Cyber Security won’t be running this year, although I have no doubt the main 44CON event in September will be as excellent as always
- Great to see that DC44141 launched in Glasgow and was a very popular night – follow @ZephrFish for news of the next meet-up
- Impressed to read the submissions for BSides London this year – there’s some tough competition! I hope my talk gets through but, regardless, I’m really looking forward to the day. Voting has now opened so check out the submissions and vote here
- Tickets for EMF Camp have now closed, but with the promise that more may be available nearer the date
- Don’t forget that more tickets for Steelcon go on sale next week. This conference is unmissable in my book – an absolute favourite.
Here’s an updated summary of my pick of the best UK Cyber Security conferences and events for spring and summer this year:
Do you think an information security conference of only women speakers is a good idea?
On International Women’s Day, earlier this week, I did a small poll on Twitter about women’s profile at information security conferences:
Do you think an infosec con of only women speakers is a good idea? #InternationalWomensDay #womeninsecurity (pls RT)
— Jessica Barker MBE (@drjessicabarker) March 8, 2016
I usually do research on larger and more random samples but for this question I specifically wanted people in the information security industry to respond, so twitter seemed like the perfect place. The tweet got 231 votes and nearly 9,000 impressions. 52% of people voted against the idea of an infosec conference featuring only female speakers, and 48% voted yes.
2016 Cyber Security Conferences
The information security industry loves a good conference. Sharing knowledge, chatting with old friends, meeting new ones and putting real life faces to twitter handles.
While at the Cyber Security Challenge Insight Camp at Greenwich University last weekend, many students asked where they could get more information on cyber security. I mentioned a few of the conferences that I enjoy, and then decided that I would compile a list of the top UK infosec conferences (please let me know if I’ve missed any) and some key information. Hope you find it helpful. Do let me know which you’re going to attend, I’m hoping to go to most and speak at some.