Sean Michael Kerner

About

Sean Michael Kerner is an Internet consultant, strategist, and writer for several leading IT business web sites.

Black Hat: Ads Could Provide a Vehicle for Enslaving Your Browser

LAS VEGAS—Every day millions of ads are displayed to tens of millions of users across the Web. According to a pair of WhiteHat Security researchers speaking at the Black Hat security conference here, those ads could be the gateway to enslaving your browser into a botnet army. There is little preventing an attacker from spending […]

Why Isn’t Charlie Miller Speaking at Black Hat This Year?

One of the highlights for me in any given year that I’m at Black Hat, is seeing big name hackers do what they do best. This year, I’m going to miss seeing at least one of them. One of those big name hackers (for me) has been Charlie Miller, since at least 2007 when i […]

RSA: Why Big Data Presents Big Security Problems

SAN FRANCISCO — Quite aware that the advent of more and more big data workloads has caused new vulnerabilities in enterprise security, RSA on Feb. 25 released a new version of its Authentication Manager platform to provide new big data intelligence in user authentication. The world’s largest IT security company made the announcement on the […]

Microsoft 2012 Blue Hat Security Prizes Total $260,000

LAS VEGAS €” A year ago at the Black Hat 2011 event, Microsoft announced the Blue Hat Prize. The goal is simple: It motivates security researchers to come up with a new defensive technology for Windows. At the 2012 Black Hat conference, Microsoft followed up with a new set of Blue Hat prizes that included […]

Windows 8 Security Garners Praise at Black Hat

LAS VEGAS €” Microsoft’s Windows 8 is not yet generally available€”the operating system officially lands on store shelves Oct. 26€”but that’s not stopping security researchers from trying to find flaws in the OS. However, hackers who have had an easy time with Windows might find some new security features hard to beat. For years, Windows […]

Black Hat: Credit Card Payment Terminals at Risk

LAS VEGAS €” Payment terminals are ubiquitous in modern society, enabling us to pay for anything we want with a credit card. At the Black Hat security conference here, a pair of security researchers demonstrated in front of a live audience that those payment terminals are not as secure as they should be. In a […]

Black Hat Hacking Hotel Doors With Open-Source Arduino

LAS VEGAS €” For millions of travelers and road warriors, the ubiquitous hotel key card is the primary, and essentially the only, way to access their rooms at the end of day. However, security researcher Cody Brocious believes the current systems used to secure hotel doors throughout the United States and elsewhere are severely flawed. […]

Former FBI Agent Warns of Cyber-Threat, Asks Hackers for Help at Black Hat

LAS VEGAS €” The United States is at war in the cyber-theater, and it€™s a pervasive threat that all Americans need to take seriously. That€™s the message from a former, high-ranking FBI agent, who delivered a July 25 keynote address at the Black Hat conference here. For 24 years, Shawn Henry worked in the FBI, […]

Qualys Open-Source Mobile Security Tool Debuts at Black Hat

LAS VEGAS €” At the Black Hat security and B-sides conferences here, mobile security will be in the cross hairs this week. While there seems to be a limitless supply of vulnerable mobile apps, defensive measures to actually easily validate and identify mobile vulnerabilities have not been as plentiful. That’s a situation that Parth Patel, […]