San Jose Archive

Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Open to the public, attendance is free

Agenda and Presentations: 6:00pm - 6:30pm ... Check-in and reception (food & bev) 6:30pm - 7:15pm ... Attacking XML Security - Brad Hill 7:15pm - 8:00pm ... Development of a Security Metric System to Rate Enterprise Software - Fredrick Lee 8:00pm - 8:30pm ... Networking Session

Venue: Ariba 807 11th Avenue Sunnyvale, Ca 94089 Map and Directions

Attacking XML Security Presented by: Brad Hill, iSEC Partners

Abstract: Brad will present his ongoing research into attacking the XML Digital Signature and Encryption standards that underpin the security of Web Services, mobile code, SAML, federated identity systems and more. The talk will begin with a high-level, critical take on the emerging conventional wisdom about message-oriented security and continue with a detailed discussion of design and implementation weaknesses in the standards. Technical material will include a root cause analysis of the recent iSEC advisory on cross-platform, remote code execution vulnerabilities discovered in multiple XML Digital Signature products.

Presentation Link

Bio: Based out of Seattle, Brad Hill is a Senior Security Consultant at iSEC Partners, a full-service security consulting firm that provides penetration testing, secure systems development, security education and software design verification. Brad brings a ten year background as a software developer and architect in the technology and financial services sectors to his work at iSEC, where he does design review, application assessment and development lifecycle improvement for some of the world’s leading software companies. Development of a Security Metric System to Rate Enterprise Software Presented by: Fredrick Lee, Fortify Software

Abstract: As part of Fortify Software’s Java Open Review (JOR) project, both security defects and quality issues discovered in open source software are collected. The projects being analyzed are diverse in their development methodologies, development stages, and application styles. The projects range from small utility packages (e.g. Apache Commons), to mid-size intranet applications (e.g. JSPWiki), to large-scale, commercial grade enterprise projects (e.g. JBoss). In essence, participants in the Java Open Review project reflect the typical enterprise organization’s code base: a large collection of several small utility/internal applications and a handful of enterprise “flagship” products.

As part of the project, we have been challenged to answer the question: Which application is more “secure.” To answer this question, Fortify has sought to develop a set of metrics that combine lessons learned from our experience working on various enterprise code bases and our work on the JOR project. The metrics are designed to incorporate diverse criteria, including the size of the application, the types of vulnerabilities identified, and time required to fix the vulnerabilities. The metrics provide a mechanism to rate software components for security concerns and enable enterprises to:

- Evaluate which open source projects offer an acceptable level of security - Compare competing open source software solutions based on their security - Measure internal development efforts against open source open source counterparts

Ultimately, with sufficient industry adoption, the metrics can also enable enterprises to compare their internal efforts against other enterprises within the same vertical. As part of the talk we will present our experience to date working with companies to develop an effective mechanism for evaluating the security of enterprise software.

Bio: Fredrick Lee is a member of Fortify Software’s Security Research Group, where he manages the Java Open Review Project. Scanning the code of over 100 applications so far, Fredrick is helping assess and improve the security of open source software. Fredrick also helps the Security Research Group develop the secure coding rules that are use to run Fortify’s suite of products. Prior to joining Fortify Software, Fredrick was a Senior Information Security Engineer at Bank of America, where he helped roll out a secure development framework, performed security assessments, and developed enterprise security solutions. Fredrick graduated from the University of Oklahoma, with a BS in Computer Engineering.

Upcoming Security Workshops Presented by: Brian Bertacini, Volunteer Chapter Organizer

Abstract: Introduce local volunteer expert trainers that are planning web application and infrastructure security workshops.

Please RSVP to via email [mailto:brian.bertacini@owasp.org Brian Bertacini], call 408-979-0571 or visit OWASP.Mollyguard.com

Special thanks to Ariba for hosting this event and to AppSec Consulting and iSEC Partners for sponsoring.