LABScon 2024: Cutting-Edge Cybersecurity Research in Real Time

“[LABScon 2024] is the place for cutting-edge research. There’s nowhere else covering this much advanced research in this sort of environment.” The event was a gathering of the world’s top cybersecurity minds, where they shared their latest research and insights. The conference was held in Scottsdale, Arizona, and featured keynotes and presentations from leading experts, threat investigators, academics, government partners, and journalists.

Max Smeets, researcher and director of the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich, introduced his work on the ‘Ransomware Trust Paradox’. Ransomware groups flourish under public attention for brand-building—and there needs to be a reporting code of ethics for cyber threat intelligence and the media.

After providing her personal account of how she became the Mother of Decompilation, Dr. Cristina Cifuentes received the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award. As Katie Moussouris posted on X, “so much of our industry is possible because of [Cristina’s] work.”

David Weston, Vice President of OS Security and Enterprise at Microsoft, sat down with author and journalist Kim Zetter for a wide-ranging fireside chat.

Dakota Cary, SentinelOne Strategic Advisory Consultant, and Eugenio Benincasa, Cyberdefense Researcher with Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich, expanded on their discovery that a Chinese university hacking competition may have attacked a real target—and invited the LABScon community to help “identify the victim.”

Kristin Del Rosso, Managing Director of DEVSEC LLC, and Madeleine D., Intelligence Specialist at Nisos, analyzed the rising trend of foreign investment in U.S. agricultural land. Using USDA data, they highlighted its impact on national security, especially near military sites.

Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade, AVP of Research for SentinelLabs, delivered a critical message about the consolation of threat intelligence.

BINARLY’s Alex Matrosov and Fabio Pagani unveiled PKFAIL, a critical firmware supply-chain issue affecting hundreds of devices due to vendors shipping default test keys.

MJ Emanuel, Threat Analyst at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), revealed an entrenched problem in how the SSL, VPN, and firewall industry developed over the last 25 years. An alternative title for her talk: What is wrong with edge devices?

Martin W., PhD researcher at the Alperovitch Institute for Cybersecurity Studies, shed light on the real AI disinformation race in the Taiwanese Election. Martin found Taiwanese billionaires who earn most of their money in China bought or set up local news outlets to push slanted narratives. The result? These two parties managed to wrest control of parliament. “This is the story we missed in America quite a bit. There was a collective sigh of relief when the [Democratic Progressive Party] won the presidency … We missed that the opposition now controls parliament … [I]t’s going to change the face of Taiwan.”

LABScon 2024 was not just about presentations, but also about fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange among the cybersecurity community. The conference was a success thanks to the participation of all the talented researchers and speakers. For more detailed information on the talks, you can visit the SentinelOne website.