Presented at
DEF CON 31 (2023),
Aug. 11, 2023, 11:30 a.m.
(45 minutes)
Civil Cyber Defense volunteers and students challenge high-risk adversaries and threats such as human traffickers, authoritarian regimes, and surveillance being conducted on journalists. By utilizing academic resources, OSINT skills, and free/open-source tools, civil cyber defenders are supporting vulnerable non-profits, protecting volunteers, journalists, and activists while defending human rights. There is a need in the cybersecurity industry for more civil cyber defenders. Recommendations will be made as to how your organization can support and/or volunteer your time and tools to provide protection to vulnerable organizations who have high risks, face advanced and persistent adversaries, but have modest resources.
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The content we will present was generated by the speakers. Tiffany will present anonymized case studies from the “Citizen Clinic” at UC Berkeley and Austin will share case studies his organization has generated regarding human trafficking. Our only bibliographic reference at this moment is a reference to open source/free software tools we use at UC Berkeley. We will also reference a tool to make VPNs safer created by Berkeley’s students called “Ghost Prtcl.”
Presenters:
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Austin Shamlin
- Co-Founder at Traverse Project
Austin Shamlin is the CEO and founder of Traverse Project, a nonprofit founded in 2023 to combat human trafficking networks. He has served in the law enforcement and security industry for over 20 years, most recently serving as director of operations with an anti-human trafficking nonprofit under the Tim Tebow Foundation. Austin is a professionally recognized geopolitical security subject matter expert on Haiti and has previously served as a special advisor to the Haitian Minister of Justice. Prior to his nonprofit work, he served as a police executive with the D.C. government. Prior to working for the District of Columbia, Austin worked as a government contractor in Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Haiti.
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Tiffany Rad
- Instructor at U.C. Berkeley
Tiffany Strauchs Rad (BS, MA, MBA, JD) has presented cybersecurity research – both technical and legal topics -- at many security conferences such as Black Hat USA, Black Hat Abu Dhabi, Defcon (17, 18, 19), H.O.P.E., 27C3 & 28C3, and has been featured in media such as Wired, Washington Post, CNN, Reuters, 60 Minutes, Der Spiegel, CNN, Wired Magazine, and NPR. Her independent security research was listed as #4 in "Top 10 White Hat Hacks" by Bloomberg, and her critical infrastructure research was featured on the USA network series, “Mr. Robot.” In addition to being a car hacker and doing transportation infrastructure security consulting, she is also an adjunct instructor at the University of Maine and U.C. Berkeley teaching classes such as the "Citizen Clinic."
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