For our first Lunch Seminar in a while, we are especially honored to bring in Matthew Curtin.



Title: Crypto War II: Protecting the Infrastructure



Abstract: During the 1990s, private security professionals and government agencies waged a battle over the control of cryptographic technology known generally as the Crypto Wars. Recent statements by the Director of the FBI James Comey, President Obama, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron indicate that we are headed into another Crypto War, where governments want to be able to compel private citizens and organizations to allow access to their information on the power of a warrant. With private organizations suffering expensive and embarrassing data breach incidents and government agencies working to undermine security in Internet standards and US companies’ products, a path forward to protecting US critical infrastructure must be charted. This presentation highlights critical aspects of the 1990s Crypto Wars, and presents the proper role of government and private security professionals for securing the United States against its enemies.



Speaker Bio: C. Matthew Curtin, CISSP is the founder of Interhack Corporation, a computer expert firm providig cybersecurity and analysis services for organizations throughout North America. Curtin was one of the leaders of the 1997 DESCHALL effort that for the first time in open research broke a message encrypted with the US Government standard for data encryption, 56-bit DES. Often called as an expert often engaged to address data breach incidents and computer crime, Curtin brings perspective that recognizes the need for security and the means to achieve it. He is the author of Brute Force: Cracking the Data Encryption Standard (Copernicus, 2005), a founding member of the Central Ohio InfraGard Members’ Alliance, and past board member of the Central Ohio ISSA.