Presented at
Diana Initiative 2019,
Aug. 10, 2019, noon
(60 minutes)
The term "Threat Hunter" and "Threat Researcher" seem to be buzzing around these days. But what does it mean? What do those people do? Where do they fall in?
I'm going to tell you my thoughts on what the skills and abilities of seasoned hunter might look like and how having one could help an organization.
I will talk a little about the common types of hunters, but I will talk more about my passion that is also my job.
My goal is to help clear a couple of things up and maybe spark some interest in this field that I love.
Presenters:
-
Yasmine Johnston-Ison
- Principal Threat Reseacher at BlackBerry
I started tinkering with webpage vulnerabilities when I was around 17 years old. I had no clue that tinkering was a real job. I was soon, purposefully, infecting my own computers with spyware to see what happens and how they work. Then I joined the military (around 19 years old) as a Signals Intelligence Analyst (National Guard 2003, active duty Army 2005, and ended my career last year in the reserves).
I've done some threat targeting downrange in Afghanistan and Iraq and even more targeting back here stateside. I left the targeting world for a short time when I worked at the Department of Energy as their Senior Reverse Engineer. While there, I had a great Team Lead who pushed my technical skills at every opportunity. Current, I am working at Cylance/Blackberry as a Principal Threat Researcher, where I am back to hunting.
As you can see, my career grew up in the shadows of digital conversations. I saw and learned so much. I understood how pieces fit together. I learned weaknesses in targets and how to exploit them. Sometimes I knew my target better than my family. I was trained to become an expert in the area I was assigned. Even as a contractor for the Department of Defense, I was still in this shadow. People’s lives depended on my ability to put a puzzle together.
A target is a target and I had better have my facts right.
A network is a network - human or digital.
In the shadows, it’s one in the same.
I live for hunting. Discovery of the unknown while staying unknown.
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