Five reasons why your firewall won't save you

Phillip Pudney 2007

IT security is a moving target. As new security threats and vulnerabilities emerge, countermeasures are rapidly deployed to mitigate them… until the attackers discover new vulnerabilities. The 2006 Australian Computer Crime and Security Survey reports that only 10% of organisations feel that they manage all computer security issues reasonably well; and despite the IT security arms race, in reality many organisations still struggle to protect their information from the known threats, such as SQL injection, social engineering and wireless vulnerabilities.

This talk presents the real-world experience of a white-hat penetration tester. It will discuss five of the most common security challenges that organisations currently struggle to deal with on a daily basis, and will touch on some of the emerging threats.

About Phillip Pudney

Phillip Pudney is an information security consultant with CQR Consulting, a “born global” but wholly Australian-owned provider of independent information security services. Phillip specialises in wireless network security and technical vulnerability assessments, and has over 8 years experience in information technology with 3 years focussed on security.

Prior to joining CQR Consulting, Phillip carried out state of the art research in wireless network security at the University of South Australia's Advanced Computing Research Centre. He regularly presents on information security topics at conferences throughout Australia.