Terry Dunlap, the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of ReFirm Labs will present at the June 19 Security of Things Forum in Boston.
Taking place alongside PTC LiveWorx, The Security of Things Forum is New England’s premiere IoT and security event. It brings together some of the world’s top experts, executives and entrepreneurs who are focused on the challenge of our time: securing the Internet of Things. [Use this link to register for the Forum!]
A teenaged hacker who went on to do classified work with the U.S. Government, Dunlap founded ReFirm in 2017 with a focus on helping manufacturers and connected device makers scan embedded device software (or “firmware”) for vulnerabilities.
ReFirm Labs was a finalist in the 2018 Innovation Sandbox at the RSA Security Conference. Dunlap will discuss the security of embedded device firmware in a breakout session, one of three that highlights the work of IoT startups and groundbreaking IoT researchers.
The security of device firmware is one of the most pressing issues facing manufacturers and other connected device makers. Easily exploited vulnerabilities in firmware were used by the Mirai IoT “worm,” for example. The FDA also cited the medical device firm St. Jude Medical for failing to act on knowledge of flaws in firmware for a range of implantable medical devices for more than two years. More recently, a flaw in firmware used by Samsung-branded IP cameras allowed attackers to remotely take control of the devices.
Since 2014, SECoT has drawn experts, practitioners, executives and entrepreneurs from government, academia and the private sector get together to explore the practical and political challenges of securing a global population of tens of billions of connected, intelligent devices. Past keynote speakers include Chris Valasek of Uber, Dan Geer, the Chief Information Security Officer of In-Q-Tel, Federal Trade Commissioner, Julie Brill, Raytheon CTO Michael Daniels and renowned hacker Moxy Marlinspike.
