Author Archives: jamesm

Linux Security Summit North America 2020: Online Schedule

Just a quick update on the Linux Security Summit North America (LSS-NA) for 2020.

The event will take place over two days as an online event, due to COVID-19.  The dates are now July 1-2, and the full schedule details may be found here.

The main talks are:

There are also short (30 minute) topics:

This year we will also have a Q&A panel at the end of each day, moderated by Elena Reshetova. The panel speakers are:

  • Nayna Jain
  • Andrew Lutomirski
  • Dmitry Vyukov
  • Emily Ratliff
  • Alexander Popov
  • Christian Brauner
  • Allison Marie Naaktgeboren
  • Kees Cook
  • Mimi Zohar

LSS-NA this year is included with OSS+ELC registration, which is USD $50 all up.  Register here.

Hope to see you soon!

Linux Security Summit North America 2020: CFP and Registration

The CFP for the 2020 Linux Security Summit North America is currently open, and closes on March 31st.

The CFP details are here: https://events.linuxfoundation.org/linux-security-summit-north-america/program/cfp/

You can register as an attendee here: https://events.linuxfoundation.org/linux-security-summit-north-america/register/

Note that the conference this year has moved from August to June (24-26).  The location is Austin, TX, and we are co-located with the Open Source Summit as usual.

We’ll be holding a 3-day event again, after the success of last year’s expansion, which provides time for tutorials and ad-hoc break out sessions.  Please note that if you intend to submit a tutorial, you should be a core developer of the project or otherwise recognized leader in the field, per this guidance from the CFP:

Tutorial sessions should be focused on advanced Linux security defense topics within areas such as the kernel, compiler, and security-related libraries.  Priority will be given to tutorials created for this conference, and those where the presenter is a leading subject matter expert on the topic.

This will be the 10th anniversary of the Linux Security Summit, which was first held in 2010 in Boston as a one day event.

Get your proposals for 2020 in soon!

Linux Security Summit North America 2019: Videos and Slides

LSS-NA for 2019 was held in August in San Diego.  Slides are available at the Schedule, and videos of the talks may now be found in this playlist.

LWN covered the following presentations:

The new 3-day format (as previously discussed) worked well, and we’re expecting to continue this next year for LSS-NA.

Details on the 2020 event will be announced soon!

Announcements may be found on the event twitter account @LinuxSecSummit, on the linux-security-module mailing list, and via this very blog.

Linux Security Summit North America 2019: Schedule Published

The schedule for the 2019 Linux Security Summit North America (LSS-NA) is published.

This year, there are some changes to the format of LSS-NA. The summit runs for three days instead of two, which allows us to relax the schedule somewhat while also adding new session types.  In addition to refereed talks, short topics, BoF sessions, and subsystem updates, there are now also tutorials (one each day), unconference sessions, and lightning talks.

The tutorial sessions are:

These tutorials will be 90 minutes in length, and they’ll run in parallel with unconference sessions on the first two days (when the space is available at the venue).

The refereed presentations and short topics cover a range of Linux security topics including platform boot security, integrity, container security, kernel self protection, fuzzing, and eBPF+LSM.

Some of the talks I’m personally excited about include:

The schedule last year was pretty crammed, so with the addition of the third day we’ve been able to avoid starting early, and we’ve also added five minute transitions between talks. We’re hoping to maximize collaboration via the more relaxed schedule and the addition of more types of sessions (unconference, tutorials, lightning talks).  This is not a conference for simply consuming talks, but to also participate and to get things done (or started).

Thank you to all who submitted proposals.  As usual, we had many more submissions than can be accommodated in the available time.

Also thanks to the program committee, who spent considerable time reviewing and discussing proposals, and working out the details of the schedule. The committee for 2019 is:

  • James Morris (Microsoft)
  • Serge Hallyn (Cisco)
  • Paul Moore (Cisco)
  • Stephen Smalley (NSA)
  • Elena Reshetova (Intel)
  • John Johnansen (Canonical)
  • Kees Cook (Google)
  • Casey Schaufler (Intel)
  • Mimi Zohar (IBM)
  • David A. Wheeler (Institute for Defense Analyses)

And of course many thanks to the event folk at Linux Foundation, who handle all of the logistics of the event.

LSS-NA will be held in San Diego, CA on August 19-21. To register, click here. Or you can register for the co-located Open Source Summit and add LSS-NA.

 

Linux Security Summit Europe 2018 Wrap-up

The inaugural Linux Security Summit Europe (LSS-EU) was held in October, in Edinburgh, UK.

For 2018, the LSS program committee decided to add a new event in Europe, with the aim of fostering Linux security community engagement beyond North America. There are many Linux security developers and users in Europe who may not be able to obtain funding to travel to North America for the conference each year. The lead organizer and MC for LSS EU is Elena Reshetova, of Intel Finland.

This was my first LSS as a speaker, as I’ve always been the MC for the North American events. I provided a brief overview of the Linux kernel security subsystem.

Sub-maintainers of kernel security projects presented updates on their respective areas, and there were also several referred presentations.

Slides may be found here, while videos of all talks are available via this youtube playlist.

There are photos, too!

The event overall seemed very successful, with around 150 attendees. We expect to continue now to have both NA and EU LSS events each year, although there are some scheduling challenges for 2019, with several LF events happening closely together. From 2020 on, it seems we will have 4-5 months separation between the EU and NA events, which will work much better for all involved.

 

2018 Linux Security Summit North America: Wrapup

The 2018 Linux Security Summit North America (LSS-NA) was held last month in Vancouver, BC.

Attendance continued to grow this year, with a record of 220+ attendees.  Our room was upgraded as a result, with spectacular views.

LSS-NA 2018 Vancouver BC

Linux Security Summit NA 2018, Vancouver,BC

We also had many great proposals and the schedule ended up being a very tight fit.  We’ve asked for an extra day for LSS-NA next year — here’s hoping.

Slides of all presentations are available here: https://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/linux-security-summit-north-america-2018/program/slides/

Videos may be found in this youtube playlist.

Once again, as is typical, the conference was focused around development, somewhat uniquely in the world of security conferences.  It’s interesting to see more attention seemingly being paid to the lower parts of the stack: secure booting, firmware, and hardware roots of trust, as well as the continued efforts in hardening the kernel.

LWN provided some excellent coverage of LSS-NA:

Paul Moore has a brief writeup here.

Thanks to everyone involved in the event for 2018: the speakers, attendees, the program committee, the sponsors, and the organizing team at the Linux Foundation.  LSS-NA would not be possible without all of you!

Linux Security Summit North America 2018: Schedule Published

The schedule for the Linux Security Summit North America (LSS-NA) 2018 is now published.

Highlights include:

and much more!

LSS-NA 2018 will be co-located with the Open Source Summit, and held over 27th-28th August, in Vancouver, Canada.  The attendance fee is $100 USD.  Register here.

See you there!

Linux Security BoF at Open Source Summit Japan

This is a reminder for folks attending OSS Japan this week that I’ll be leading a  Linux Security BoF session  on Wednesday at 6pm.

If you’ve been working on a Linux security project, feel welcome to discuss it with the group.  We will have a whiteboard and projector.   This is also a good opportunity to raise topics for discussion, and to ask questions about Linux security.

See you then!