We had a very intense couple of days during this year’s SecTor. Because of the pandemic, the conference was held online, but it still brought together experts from around the world to share their latest research and techniques regarding underground threats and corporate defences.

On October 21-22 2020, Paula Januszkiewicz, Mike Jankowski-Lorek and Michael Grafnetter held four presentations and gave a huge dose of practical knowledge.

Check out the descriptions of all the sessions and find the slides & tools Paula presented below.

Keynote session: A Hacker’s Perspective On Your Infrastructure And How To Keep Them Out Of Your Life by Paula Januszkiewicz

We have a smart new generation who understand how to get around computer systems — some do it just for fun, while others do it with a slightly more sinister intent! Let’s stop there and let that sink in for a moment.

Cybercrime is a very lucrative business, not just because of the potential financial return, but because it’s quite easy to get away with it. Have you heard all the news stories about identity thieves? Why are hackers targeting those computers and not others? Usually, the hacker’s goal is very simple: to do whatever is possible.

Our response should be: ‘Do whatever you want, but somewhere else!’. During Paula’s keynote you could learn how to recognize a hacker’s presence, how to avoid their activities and how to stop blackmailing, phishing and the data breaches that litter news sites nowadays.

Find the presentation slides HERE

Active Directory Database Security by Michael Grafnetter

How are passwords stored in Microsoft’s Active Directory and how can they be audited? What could an adversary do if they gained access to either the physical or virtual hard drive of a domain controller? In what ways can an Active Directory database file be directly modified, and how can such unauthorized changes be detected? How are SID-protected PFX certificates and BitLocker hard drives encrypted?

This talk answered these and many other common questions about core Active Directory security.

PKI Well Revised: Common Mistakes Which Lead To Huge Compromises Of Identity by Paula and Mike Jankowski-Lorek

All technologies and systems currently use cryptography, and most use certificates at some point. Since their boom, internal PKI systems have not changed a lot, nor have the problems that we observe during almost all pentests. It’s time to revise your knowledge about one of the cornerstones of enterprise security and learn a few tricks that attackers use to spoof any identity.

What are the common pitfalls and mistakes that can lead to a full breach of trust in your systems? Where are hidden certificates in Windows infrastructure, how are they used and by whom? How do Azure Information Protection, Windows Hello for Business and other modern technologies rely on certificates and their security?

Find the presentation slides HERE

Getting Rid Of Passwords With FIDO2 And W3C WebAuthn by Michael Grafnetter

Most security experts would agree that password-based authentication is dead. The FIDO2 standard aims to replace passwords entirely and there is a good chance that it will succeed.

It has gained significant momentum in the past year, as key players such as Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Mozilla started to jump on board. This talk will provide a technical overview of the FIDO2 and W3C WebAuthn standards, with the main focus being placed on mapping the current hardware and software support, and the possibilities and limitations of today’s implementations.

Best practice, including security token lifecycle management, was also covered.

Presented above tools are available HERE (Password: CQUREAcademy#123!):

About this year’s SecTor

SecTor 2020 was entirely online instead of in-person, from October 17-22, 2020. It has the same quality content that you’ve come to expect at SecTor, including Keynotes from the IT industry’s most respected and trusted experts and speakers who are true security professionals with a depth of understanding on topics that matter. SecTor is a must attend event for every IT Professional.