National Cyber Crime Conference Recap
I had a fantastic time at the National Cyber Crime Conference this year. Seeing the expansion and growth each year has been incredible as it brings new knowledge and excitement. For 13 years, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has hosted the conference, led by Chris Kelly and his ever-so-helpful team. The entire event staff were kind, knowledgeable, and, most importantly, excited to see the conference succeed in helping those working in this space. As an attendee, an exhibitor, and a speaker, I can say it’s a must-attend each year!
The event is unique in many ways, but one note is that attendees can be in person or virtual with recorded content. Content ranges from topics for investigators, examiners, and prosecutors. The sessions seem to be handpicked for folks working in the field to give them insight and resources to do their part of pushing cases through the system.
Tuesday morning started with Keynote Speaker David Rausch, Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
What a plethora of experience and knowledge! With over 200 in-person sessions, I’m unsure how attendees chose their agenda! A few of my takeaways from the sessions:
The Hexordia Sessions (sounds like it should be a podcast!):
Jessica led three of our sessions – LevelDB and Plist, both offered as hands-on workshops and Mobile 3rd Party App Analysis. Participants walked through some of the basics of LevelDB and Plists, then worked through some data to better understand what the data was telling us. And Mobile 3rd Party Apps? Everyone needs to know more about getting into app data that our tools aren’t parsing and learn new ways to validate what our tools are parsing. I led a session on “Delta Differences” between various types of mobile extractions that resulted in some great conversations afterward!
Some recurring session themes:
IOT – From legal challenges to data recovery, learning about the Internet of Things will always be needed.
AI – Let’s understand the challenges around it and use it for good!
Mobile, Mobile, Mobile – Always a popular topic! Biomes and iOS Shortcuts were new this year.
Pig Butchering – It’s not what it sounds like. Do you know all those romance scams that convince people to send money? The REACT Taskforce in California is investigating these cases to a new level. Do yourself, your friends, and your loved ones a favor. Do a bit of search engine reading on Pig Butchering. Then tell everyone you know. You may save them a lot of heartache and money.
Lastly, thank you for stopping by the Hexordia and Cyber5W booth. We enjoyed speaking with everyone, learning about challenges, and seeing how we can help!