Kaspersky Lab Teams Up with Cybersecurity Pros to Secure the Future of the Security Industry with SAS Unplugged

In an effort to give back to the security research community, global cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab is announcing the introduction of the newest component of its annual Security Analyst Summit (SAS) that aims to provide the next generation of security leaders with a unique platform for information exchange with experts from the industry.

Dubbed as SAS Unplugged, which is set to take place on 10 April 2019, the segment is considered to be one the highlights of this year’s SAS, the annual conference initiated by Kaspersky Lab to gather the most respected personalities in the global data security industry.

Running for over a decade now, this year’s summit will be held for the first time in Asia Pacific at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore.

The conference provides an exclusive atmosphere that encourages debate, information-sharing and display of cutting-edge research, new technologies, and ways to improve collaboration in the fight against cybercrime among the seasoned security experts, global law enforcement agencies and CERTS as well as senior executives and security alpha geeks representing the biggest security companies around the world.

As an adjoining mini-conference of the summit, SAS Unplugged will be composed of workshops, presentations, technical tracks, and career coaching facilitated by topnotch security professionals along with the elite security experts from Kaspersky Lab. It is specifically geared towards young talents such as students and budding security researchers who are just embarking on careers in cybersecurity.

Tickets to attend the day-long segment is offered at only USD100, and academia participants will be able to enjoy 50% off the regular rate, which just covers the logistical costs of organizing SAS Unplugged. The exclusive pricing is designed to enable budding cybersecurity enthusiasts, particularly fresh graduates and junior executives, an opportunity to learn from the best minds in the security sector without the need for financial support from their respective schools or companies.

SAS Unplugged was also developed to encourage more young people to pursue careers in the cybersecurity sector and address the growing issue of cybersecurity talent shortage.

Among the key findings in Kaspersky Lab’s research into the current state of cyber skills show that three quarters (73%) of businesses admit having difficulty in finding enough IT security professionals while only one-in-four (27%) consider a career in cybersecurity. In the same study, Kaspersky Lab found out that nearly three quarters of young people (71%) are not aware of any IT security graduate opportunities or internships.

In the Asia Pacific region, a few governments have already been collaborating with the business sector and academe to establish cyber training and mentoring programs that have resulted to the uptick in cybersecurity startups in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and India, eventually strengthening the local talent and producing innovative solutions against sophisticated cyberthreats.

“The cyber skills gap is massive, and would require coordinated efforts from the industry, education and government to successfully close it. But we recognize that the huge cyber skills market is out there eager to be enlightened and engaged. We hope that the SAS Unplugged program, Kaspersky Lab would help in jumpstarting the development of the talent pipeline for the cybersecurity sector and build the next generation of cyber defenders,” said Sergey Novikov, Deputy Director for Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT).

Headlining the first ever SAS Unplugged is a lineup of top-caliber security professionals who are set to give presentations on compelling topics that will provide insights on successful analysis and research techniques on interesting modern cybersecurity issues such as:

• attacks on software supply chain to be delivered by twin sisters and malware experts Noushin Shabab, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab and Negar Shabab, Application Security Consultant with the PS&C Group
• discoveries on the espionage campaign dubbed DNSpionage targeting the Middle East by Warren Mercer and Paul Rascagneres, security researchers at Cisco Talos
• proof of concept for the worst case attack scenario against the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) feature in modern cars that could potentially result in harming people and loss of lives to be demonstrated by Inbar Raz and Raziel Einhorn, Security Architect and Product Manager of Argus Cyber Security, respectively
• troll hunting using behavioral analytics to be presented by Staffan Truve, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Recorded Future
• how bit squatting domains are abused based on research by Rob Ragan and Oscar Salazar, Partner and Principal Security Consultant of Bishop Fox, respectively
• probe into unknown Internet scanners whose motives are unclear by Andrew Morris, founder of GreyNoise, and
• places of neglect in terms of APT research or the missing 90% of the iceberg by Costin Raiu, Director of the Global Research Analysis Team (GReAT) of Kaspersky Lab

SAS Unplugged will showcase an expo zone with interactive stations and lightning talks throughout the day and will be capped off by an entertaining quiz show put together especially for security geeks.

Very limited seats are being offered for SAS Unplugged. Full agenda and registration details are available from this link.