Hackers, hackers everywhere in Ljubljana

So, that’s a wrap. What a great couple days it has been here in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Not sure where that is? Well, Google Maps can sort that our for you. I remember a few months back that it was announced that a friend of mine would be speaking at the CSA CEE 2016 Summit and I thought, why not? I submitted a paper to the conference and also to the BSides Ljubljana that was taking place the next day.

I can say without reservation that I am happy that I did. This was a great experience for me and it was fun to talk about security with an new group of people who I had not previously interacted with. This is what keeps the industry fun for me. Being able to meet new people and talk about the shared experiences and share where I once failed in the hopes that people would not suffer the same fate. It recharges the soul.

First off, I delivered a talk about collected DDoS data at the CSA event. I really enjoyed myself because I had a great audience and a wireless mic. Why should that matter? Well, if you’ve ever seen me give a talk you’ll know that I can’t really stand still.

Today I left the hotel bound for the BSides Ljubljana event. I figured I was leaving in good time. According to my directions it was a 15 minute walk and I was early. Well, the joke was on me. It was roughly two hours later when I finally walked through the door where the event was being held.

Now, I have a global SIM card that, turns out, doesn’t cover Slovenia. I figured out that little gem roughly ten minutes after I had already left the hotel. So, I decided to ask several passersby for directions. Everyone I spoke to was very helpful and kind. One young lady wanted to know if I knew her relatives in Toronto. I smiled politely and said, no. I was pointed in all manner of directions due the fact that apparently no one knew where to send me. Then I finally found an open wifi access point where I could call the conference for help.

Facepalm achieved. 

Lessons learned. Thankfully, I was able to give my talk about digital supply chain security in the end. However, I was a amazed to the degree that I rely on data on my phone to function in the course of the day. Somewhat frightening.

There were a couplel hundred people at the BSides event and it was really nice to see such an active security community. When all the talks were done at the end of the day then there were Lightening Talks to finish up. For those of you who might not be aware, these are short presentations that people can give and this portion was pretty much dominated by a crew from Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland. Well done lads.

What was my takeaway from the last couple days? There is a thriving security community in Slovenia and I was honoured for the chance to give a talk and to have great conversations from people here. There is a lot of talent here. I sincerely hope that I will have the chance to come back here again sometime soon.