You know those spam emails you get enticing you to click on a link? More than just plain annoying, these are cyber security attacks that steal information off your computer.
There’s a group of volunteers who create software to counter these cyber security and deception attacks. They then give that software away for free, and do all this on top of their day jobs as cyber security and IT researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs. These altruistic volunteers from 20 countries are holding their annual conference in Canberra from 15 to 17 November 2017 at UNSW Canberra.
“We were delighted to work with the Australian volunteers in their bid to hold the Annual Honeynet Project Workshop in Canberra,” said Canberra Convention Bureau CEO Michael Matthews. “This is the first time the event has been held in Australia and is further recognition of Canberra as a centre of knowledge and excellence.”
Previous annual workshops were held in the USA, Norway, Poland and UAE. The three-day workshop has a strong focus on skill building, sharing information and providing face-to-face networking for volunteers who work with each other throughout the year in the virtual space.
“Canberra was an ideal destination for this annual event. We have a strong cyber security and IT sector here, and the vibrant start-up culture in Canberra, supported by the ACT Government, is really developing the high skill level jobs of the future,” said Ben Whitham, the Australian lead for the Honeynet Project, and cyber security entrepreneur and engineer. “This is a valuable opportunity to continue to build our skills and meet others from the Honeynet Project around the world.”
For 17 years, volunteers with the Honeynet Project, an international, non-profit research organisation, have developed open source tools and undertaken cyber security research, which is released to the public at no cost.