The 443 - Security Simplified

Hacking VR With UNHcFREG

Welcome back to another episode of The 443 – Security Simplified. This week, we sit down with three members of the University of New Haven Cyber Forensics Research and Education Group to discuss their resent research into virtual reality application security. UNHcFREG recently discovered several vulnerabilities in the popular VR application BigRoom with results ranging from spying on users to code execution on the victim’s computer. We’ll chat with Dr. Ibrahim (Abe) Baggili, Martin Vondráček, and Peter Casey about this research project, and their thoughts on the future of VR and AR security.
Dr. Ibrahim (Abe) Baggili is the Elder Family Endowed Chair of Computer Science & Cybersecurity at the Tagliatela College of Engineering, Department of Computer & Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of New Haven, CT, specializing in Cybersecurity & Forensics. He serves as the Assistant Dean and is the founder of the University of New Haven’s Cyber Forensics Research and Education Group (UNHcFREG). Abe is also the former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law (JDFSL). He received his BSc, MSc and PhD all from Purdue University where he worked as a researcher in CERIAS.
Abe co-authored over 70 publications including books, peer reviewed articles, and conference papers and has received funding for his work from a variety of sources including the NSF, NSA, DHS and MITRE. Most recently, work with his students showed security issues in mobile social messaging applications that affect over 1 billion people worldwide they also found major Virtual Reality exploits that affect people globally. His research interests include cybersecurity and forensics from technical, social, and psychological perspectives. He has worked closely with law enforcement and private sector and has published work on real challenges facing cybercriminal investigators and has presented at a number of conferences worldwide.
Abe’s work has also been featured in news outlets and on TV worldwide in over 20 languages. To learn more about Abe and his work you can visit http://www.baggili.com and http://www.unhcfreg.com.
Martin Vondráček is an enthusiastic student researcher focused on cybersecurity and computer networks, currently (2019) pursuing his master's degree at the Faculty of Information Technology, Brno University of Technology (FIT BUT), Czech Republic. He has completed his Bachelor's degree with honors at the same university and has received several academic awards including dean's award and rector's award. Martin joined the Cyber Forensics Research & Education Group (UNHcFREG) and Virtual Reality Lab as a visiting scholar from the FIT BUT in 2018. During his studies at the FIT BUT, he collaborated with the Networks and Distributed Systems Research Group (NES@FIT). His previous research was focused on automation of Man-in-the-Middle attack on Wi-Fi networks. Martin has also participated in student exchange programs at the University of Malta and the University of South Wales. You can contact him at linkedin.com/in/vondracek-martin, find out more about his publicly available work at github.com/mvondracek, and follow him at twitter.com/VondracekMar.
Peter Casey is a graduate researcher at the University of New Haven. He is a member of the Cyber Forensics Research and Education Group, Virtual Reality Lab, and the Hacking Team. While Peter is currently working towards his Master’s in Computer Science (May 2019), he will soon start his career at MITRE. Prior to his studies at the University of New Haven, Peter served several combat deployments with the 1st battalion 75th Ranger Regiment and received his Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from the State University of New York, College at Geneseo.

Interviewing a Former Signals Intelligence Professional

This week on The 443 – Security Simplified, we have a very special episode for you. We sit down for an interview with Ricardo Arroyo, current Product Manager for WatchGuard Technologies and former employee of the NSA. You’ve already heard our views on government intelligence gathering and hacking operations so this week we’ll give you the other side from someone with first-hand experience.

Greetings From the UK!

Welcome back to another episode of The 443 – Security Simplified. We have another special episode this week coming from Manchester UK, where we sit down with Sr. Sales Engineer Martin Lethbridge to discuss the cyber threats that businesses are facing on this side of the pond. In the episode, we cover three main security concerns and how organizations across the world can combat them.

Biohacking Part 2 – Grinders

Today on The 443 – Security Simplified, we jump in to part two of our multi-part series on biohacking. In this episode, we focus on Grinders, the community of biohacker hobbyists that self-experiment with implants and chemicals to enhance their bodies and minds. We’ll cover a few notable individuals, some cool biohacks from the field, and safety concerns.

Internet Security Report Special Edition Q4 2018

The WatchGuard Threat Lab just released our Internet Security Report for Q4 2018 which means this week we have a special edition of The 443 – Security Simplified! On today’s episode, we cover all of the stats and trends from the latest report along with some defensive tips to keep yourself safe from the most prolific and widespread attacks.

Biohacking Part 1

This week on The 443 – Security Simplified, we cover the latest news including downtime for Facebook, a new IoT security bill making its way through congress, and the latest on nation-state hacking. Then, we begin the first of several episodes on the topic of biohacking. We start the series with a general overview of what biohacking is from cybernetic implants to DIY home-gene splicing. We’ll cover its origins, its future, and where it’s at right now with different subgroups of human biohacking.
If there is a specific topic in biohacking that you would like us to cover in this series, reach out to us in the comments on Secplicity.org or on twitter at #The443Podcast.

RSA Conference 2019 – Conversations from Booth Land

While Marc is on vacation, and Corey left the cozy confines of our podcast booth in Seattle, and spoke with the folks at WatchGuard’s booth at the RSA Conference in San Francisco. They discussed the top security concerns and trends at the event, including: IoT, MFA and secure Wi-Fi.

RSA Conference Preview

Welcome back to another episode of The 443 – Security Simplified. This week, we preview the trends and buzzwords we expect to see at the 2019 RSA Conference in San Francisco. Before that though, we discuss the latest news, including a mobile phone forensics tool found on ebay and a cryptojacking company closing up shop.

All Hail Our AI Overlords

In this week’s episode of The 443 – Security Simplified, we cover two recent healthcare data breaches in the news. Following that, we’ll jump in to the world of artificial intelligence and a few applications with serious opportunities for misuse.

Roses Are Red, WatchGuard Is Too

In this episode of The 443 – Security Simplified, we cover a multi-factor authentication crackdown on Apple iOS app developers. Then, to celebrate Valentine’s day, we dive in to dating app security. We cover a few prominent hacks and security trends in the online dating world and how to not fall victim to attackers.