Wednesday 5 October 16:30 - 17:00, Green roomYaniv Balmas (Check Point Software Technologies)
Ben Herzog (Check Point Software Technologies)"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly how to properly use cryptography, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."Cryptography is no longer a niche malware feature. It has become the weapon of choice to subject victims to extortion, perform covert communications, achieve stealth and much more. Almost no crimeware bag of tricks is complete without a nasty ransomware binary somewhere in it.Like any other dangerous weapon, cryptography should be handled with care; in the wrong hands, it can easily become a double-edged sword — and, in fact, it does. There appears to be no upper bound for how ill-designed cryptography can be. Whenever you think you have seen the worst of it... well, you better think again.Our talk will showcase several real-world cryptographic disasters encountered by our researchers. Some are more well-known than others, but all have had consequences — for the attacker as well as their victims.Trying to extract value from these failures is often a crapshoot. In some cases, there is not much to do but to watch cryptography fail and laugh/cry. However, in other cases — especially if you know what to look for — you may be able to use cryptographic failures to your advantage and subvert the original intent of the malware to your benefit.This presentation will try to educate the audience on the common methods that can be employed to identify those failures, and perhaps save yourself, or others, from a very sticky situation.Points to be discussed during the presentation: