Nullcon Goa 2012

With the digital infrastructure expanding and new computing platforms being adopted, organisations are beginning to realise that they have more to manage than ever before. They now require a focus on security continuity that allows them to continuously respond not only to online threats but also external changes. To address this issue, nullcon Goa 2012- a four day vendor neutral event brought together security companies, buyers, consultants, business decision makers etc. from across the globe. The prime focus of this conference was to spread security awareness and provide a platform for consultants, security companies, security buyers and security professionals to share expert knowledge and experience.

The conference was held from 15- 18th February, 2012 at the Bogmallo Beach Resort, Goa. The conference’s inaugural note on why government and policymakers should get involved on the information security front was delivered by Janardhan Swami, the Member of Parliament from Karnataka. The first two days of the event were dedicated to training sessions and workshops. Some of the themes of the training sessions were XtremeXploitation, Xtreme Web Hacking, Advanced Wi-Fi security etc. A new concept called ‘Jailbreak’ was introduced this year (This is one of a kind game challenge where the participants are kept in house arrest to combat the real life hurdles and yet make a mark, solving complex security challenges or finding a vulnerability is what makes them free from the Jail (House arrest). Torture and difficult conditions to be tackled to be a winner).

Keynotes speakers for nullcon 2012 included Muktesh Chander, the center director for National Critical Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIPC) who spoke on cyber-crime prevention, and Alok Vijayant, the director at National Technical Research Organization (NTRO ) on the need for understanding the changing nature of cyberspace and cyber security. The keynote by Kamlesh Bajaj, the CEO of Data Security Council of India (DSCI) spoke on the topic ‘Cyberspace - A global commons or a national asset’.

The conference witnessed some exceptional security professionals who stunned the audience with their expertise. One of them were a group of security experts who demonstrated the vulnerability of GSM mobile networks, which can be easily exploited by hackers enabling them to impersonate a user's identity and make calls from his account without a clue to the consumer. The group claimed that most of the telecom networks were not encrypting signals, which is common at the international level.

Another leading cyber security expert explained today how IVRS can be a hacker’s paradise for stealing anyone’s personal information using their phones as these systems remain mostly unaudited and lack key security features. He also said that said one of the major lacunae with the IVRS is lack of confirmation procedure whether data is entered by human or machine — called as CAPTCHA. “The worst part is most of these phone banking methods are usually unaudited for security checks and the programs are also not up to the mark, making them vulnerable”, he said.

With every new technology comes some risk and even the Smart Electricity Meter is not spared of vulnerabilities according to one of the experts from the US who spoke about Smart Meter Hacking at the conference. In his opinion, in the US which has used smart meters for a decade, he said that hackers have recovered passwords stored in the optical interface and used them to attack other smart meters causing massive blackouts.

Along with these some of the other topics that were spoken about were WarTexting, secure capacity building for developing nations, android hacking, CAPTCHAS, open source revolution etc. The conference covered all walks of the cyber- security thus promising a better and brighter future in the space of cyber security.

Nullcon- an initiative by null is a four day vendor neutral event will bring together business decision makers and security professionals from national and international arena to address the important security issues and innovative mitigation solutions.

The prime focus of this conference is to spread security awareness and provide a unified platform for consultants, security companies, security buyers and security professionals to share expert knowledge and experience. It also provides companies an exclusive platform where they can display their competencies to the audiences.

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