Blockchain Security: Melting the "Silver Bullet"
11:30/12:10
Blockchain (and Cryptocurrency) is an evolution of 20-year old research from scientists like Chaum, Lamport, and Castro & Liskov. Due to the current hype, it's hard to distinguish beneficial aspects of the technology from a desire for a "silver bullet" for device security, verifiable logistics, or "saving democracy". The problem: blockchain introduces new security challenges - and blind adoption without understanding reduces overall security. In this talk, Melanie Rieback and Klaus Kursawe explain the pitfalls and limits of blockchain, so you can avoid making your applications LESS secure.
Language: English
Level: Intermediate
Melanie Rieback
CEO/Co-founder - Radically Open Security
Dr. Melanie Rieback is the CEO/Co-founder of Radically Open Security and former Asst Professor of Computer Science at VU. Melanie was named 2010 ICT Professional of the Year (Finalist) by WomeninIT, one of the 400 most successful women in the Netherlands by Viva Magazine (Viva400) in 2010 and 2017, one of the fifty most inspiring women in tech (Inspiring Fifty Netherlands) in 2016 and 2017, and the Most Innovative IT Leader by CIO Magazine NL (TIM Award) in 2017. Her company, Radically Open Security was also named the 50th Most Innovative SME by the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in 2016.
Klaus Kursawe
Owner - GridSec.org
Dr. Klaus Kursawe got his PhD from the University of Saarbruecken and IBM Research Zurich in 2001 for his work on Byzantine Fault Tolerant total ordering protocols, the basic technology of distributed ledgers. He has since worked on research, implementation and trainings for a variety of security topics such as trusted computing (at IBM and KU Leuven), Privacy (at KU Leuven), embedded system security (Philips Research) and security of critical infrastructures (Radboud University and ENCS). Currently, he runs GridSec.org, working both on critical infrastructures and distributed ledger security.
