Why Secure Remote Access Is Like The Emperors New Clothes – Charl van der Walt, Wicus Ross – BH20 #1
Our research for Black Hat demonstrates that the Secure Remote Access or so-called 'VPN' technologies typically used by enterprises to facilitate access to their networks for remote employees are poorly understood, improperly configured and don't provide the full level of protection typically expected of them. This isn't because of bugs in the technology, but rather due to a ubiquitous scenario in which the remote worker is connected to Wi-Fi that is is untrusted, insecure or compromised. We demonstrate that in this common use-case 'VPN' technologies do not act as we expect them to and therefore expose several opportunities to an attack with control over the Wi-Fi access point.
To get access to the most recent results from our studies, updates, additional demos and other resources on our research, visit: https://orangecyberdefense.com/global/insecure-remote-access/.
Guests
Charl is a founder of a penetration testing company called SensePost, which was originally based in South Africa but now has global reach since its acquisition by Orange Cyberdefense. He played various roles over his 20 year history with that company, including a stint as CEO in the time preceding the acquisition. In 2020 Charl was appointed to head up the European super-operator’s Security Research division, a role that has him and his team working with diverse datasets and specialists across the group to understand the nature of the security challenges we face and provide insight and guidance on these challenges both internally and externally.
Wicus Ross is Senior Researcher at Security Research Center for Orange Cyberdefense. He is tasked with investigating industry events and trends, with the single purpose of understanding how these may affect business. Wicus uses his understanding and knowledge to advise customers and threat detection/hunting teams on the appropriate response given the threat or trend.
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