Full Report
ok.. so im in my room finally catching up on sleep (or will be in a few minutes) while most people are finishing Microsofts booze at the PURE microsoft party.. BlackHat is over, which means tomorrow we are off to the riviera for defcon.. Marco and i got a lot of positive feedback from our talk, including from guys like rob auger of wasc fame and andrew bortz who we quote in our paper, so it was pretty cool.. all our demos went of smoothly (where one of them was using javascript (and timing) to create a distributed brute-forcing tool, which had every opportunity to go south) so we were happy..
Analysis Summary
# Industry News: Post-BlackHat Context and Technical Demos
## Summary
The article provides a post-mortem reflection from a SensePost representative following the conclusion of the BlackHat conference, noting positive feedback on a technical presentation and anticipation for the upcoming Defcon event. The primary business development inferred is the successful dissemination of new security research, specifically a novel distributed brute-forcing tool utilizing JavaScript and timing metrics.
## Key Details
- **Date:** Announced August 03, 2007 (Contextual)
- **Companies Involved:** SensePost, WASC (mentioned via Rob Auger)
- **Category:** Research/Technical Presentation Feedback & Tool Release Intent
## The Story
The author from SensePost is summarizing impressions immediately after BlackHat, contrasting the professional technical forums with the social events (e.g., Microsoft party). The core focus is on the success of their presentation, which garnered positive comments from notable industry figures like Rob Auger (WASC) and Andrew Bortz. A key technical achievement mentioned was the smooth execution of a demo involving a distributed brute-forcing tool built using JavaScript and timing attacks—a demonstration with high potential for failure. The author promises to upload this tool shortly and hints at forthcoming blog posts from other SensePost team members covering attended talks.
## Business Impact
### For the Companies Involved (SensePost)
- **Enhanced Reputation:** Positive reception at a premier industry conference validates SensePost’s expertise in offensive security research, bolstering their credibility for current and potential consulting or training clients.
- **Lead Generation:** High-profile presentations often drive interest in specialized penetration testing and security audit services.
### For Competitors
- **Increased Scrutiny:** Demonstrating novel techniques, especially involving client-side attacks like timing-based distributed brute-forcing, forces competitors to rapidly analyze and develop countermeasures or competitive research.
### For Customers (Organizations utilizing security services)
- **Awareness of New Risks:** Customers gain insight into advanced attack methodologies that third-party assessors might employ, driving demand for testing against these emerging vectors.
### For the Market
- **Focus Shift in Web Security:** Explicit mention of heavy reliance on JavaScript and timing in an exploit vector suggests a market trend where flaws in browser execution environments are becoming ripe for complex, difficult-to-detect attacks.
## Technical Implications
The key technical innovation highlighted is the creation of a **distributed brute-forcing tool that leverages web technologies (JavaScript and measured timing)**. This move away from traditional, easily detectable network- or server-side attacks toward subtle, client-side timing analysis represents a significant attack vector refinement.
## Strategic Analysis
- **Market Positioning:** SensePost strengthens its position as a thought leader in cutting-edge vulnerability research, differentiating itself from firms focused on commodity vulnerability scanning.
- **Competitive Advantage:** By publicly demonstrating advanced, functional exploits, SensePost secures an early mover advantage in communicating specific threat models to the defense community, which can translate into specialized consulting contracts.
- **Challenges:** The team must manage the immediate aftermath of releasing a functional tool, balancing the desire for research dissemination against potential misuse (even if unintentional).
## Industry Reactions
- **Analyst Opinions:** Positive feedback from established figures like Rob Auger suggests the technical content was substantial and relevant, not merely performative.
- **Expert Commentary:** The successful demonstration of a complex, distributed tool implies strong engineering capabilities within the SensePost team.
- **Market Response:** The implied tool release will likely spur defensive measures tailored to mitigating timing-based side-channel attacks within web applications.
## Future Outlook
- **Predictions and Expectations:** Expect detailed technical write-ups (blogs) from SensePost regarding their presentation and other attended sessions, further detailing the methodologies used.
- **What to watch for:** The public release of the JavaScript brute-forcing tool and how quickly the wider community incorporates or develops effective defenses against its underlying timing mechanisms.
## For Security Professionals
Practitioners need to prioritize understanding timing-based side-channel attacks within web browsers and complex JavaScript environments. Defenders must evaluate application code for dependencies on precise timing that could be exploited in a distributed attack setup.