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FBI's Former Top Cyber Cop Sounds Alarms

11 Security Sights Seen Only At Black Hat

1Comments | Mathew J. Schwartz | August 01, 2012 14:00 PM

Who says fun, sun, malware, and penetration testing don't mix? This year's Black Hat conference in Las Vegas offered information security training, hardware hacking, pool time, and more.

11 Security Sights Seen Only At Black Hat

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FBI's Former Top Cyber Cop Sounds Alarms

The opening Black Hat keynote was delivered by Shawn Henry, president of CrowdStrike. Until March 2012, Henry was the executive assistant director of the FBI, and oversaw numerous aspects of the bureau, including cyber investigations and international investigations. Based on his experience, Henry warned the crowd that the "cyber" threats the public sees pale in comparison to what the government has been seeing, though, of course, such information is classified.

Despite that warning, however, a populist revolt seemed to emerge in the conference, as any presenter's use of the word "cyber" or "APT"--for advanced persistent threat--began drawing immediate fits of coughing or collective shouts of "BS!" (in its unabbreviated form).

Shawn Henry, photograph courtesy of Black Hat.

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