Why Learning Offensive Security Makes You A Better Defender – Catherine Ullman – ESW #268
Defensive and Offensive skills have never been mutually exclusive, but the value in training across disciplines has often been overlooked. Catherine joins us today to explain why familiarity with offensive skills, tools, and the attacker's mindset is such a huge benefit for defenders. A few of the highlights we'll cover in this interview include: - How to get started, learning offensive tools and techniques - What it means to be an 'Active Defender' - How to get into the head of the attacker - How to avoid 'tool-focused tunnel vision'
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Dr. Catherine J. Ullman is a security researcher, speaker, and Senior Information Security Forensic Analyst at University at Buffalo with over 20 years of highly technical experience. In her current role, Cathy is a digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) specialist, performing incident management, intrusion detection, investigative services, and personnel case resolution in a dynamic academic environment. She additionally builds security awareness among faculty and staff via a department-wide program which educates and informs users about how to prevent and detect social engineering threats, and how to compute and digitally communicate safely. Cathy has presented at numerous information security conferences including DEF CON and BlueTeamCon. In her (minimal) spare time, she enjoys visiting her adopted two-toed sloth Flash at the Buffalo Zoo, researching death and the dead, and learning more about hacking things to make the world a more secure place.