Presented at
Wild West Hackin' Fest 2017,
Oct. 28, 2017, 9:50 a.m.
(45 minutes)
Fiat currencies around the world are beginning to transition to a purely digital form. Venezuela just killed the 100 bolivar note, India removed the 2000 and 4000 rupee notes, and the EU just removed the 500 euro note. With a purely digital fiat currency, governments expect to expose black market monetary stockpiles, increase the number of participants in the banking system, and improve fiscal efficiency. But there is also a juggernaut preparing to assault financial institutions: cryptocurrencies. Money is flowing freely, with no capital controls, and the metadata surrounding financial transactions is more valuable than the money itself--yet often poorly secured. It does not really matter if bitcoin is a fad or if the Hyperledger project can live up to its promise: blockchains are a disrupting technology and they will destroy established business models. It is very likely the Bretton Woods economic system as we know it will transform before our eyes in the next few years.
This all poses a huge security risk as fintech businesses can no longer be secured in the way a traditional bank was, with locks, vaults, and stern guards. The digitalization and outsourcing of digital processes in the financial world transforms IT companies handling these assets and processes into new forms of banks themselves. We’ll discuss how the collision of infosec and finance is leading to a redefinition of what money itself means to governments and to you.
Presenters:
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Tarah Wheeler / Pinup
as Tarah Wheeler
Born in a log cabin on the prairie to a \_\_\_ and an itinerant \_\_\_, Tarah Wheeler had a humble upbringing of fighting the status quo, sticking it to the man, and shooting prairie dogs because they’re good eatin’. An emeritus member of the Order of the Orange Badge, Tarah has founded or been in the first 10 employees of many successful companies, mostly because she hates filling out job applications. Her life now consists mainly of sitting in airplanes, punctuated by writing books that smash the patriarchy and giving speeches where she tells people to stop sucking so much at security. No one can guarantee that the old proverb about “liquor in the front, poker in the rear” wasn’t written about Tarah, as she’s a midlevel limit Texas holdem pro with a fondness for highland Scotch and lowland company.
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