iplosion security

After the DAVIX Visualization Workshop in Las Vegas, Christoph Puppe approached us and asked if we were interested in having DAVIX bundled with the upcoming information security special edition of the iX magazine. Since iX is a very well-established German periodical for IT professionals, we simply could not turn down such a generous offer.

Raffy, Christoph and I put together our heads and in lightning speed we wrote up an article about DAVIX. The article gives an introduction to the information visualization process, the DAVIX toolset and features a sample analysis of checking network policy compliance using network flows captured with Argus and visualized with AfterGlow.

The special edition due to be released on October 16 comes with a multi-boot DVD with several live CDs. Apart from DAVIX there will be Avira Rescue, BackTrack 3, Damn Vulnerable Linux (DVL) and (R)ecovery (I)s (P)ossible on the disk. In particular DVL is a very interesting piece. It is a Linux distro containing as many vulnerable software packages as possible. If you are looking for a playground to train your skills or a simple way to get an environment for teaching security classes, this is it!

In December 2004 Swiss National TV SFDRS broadcasted a weeklong series on security. Among other topics a 24-hour Capture the Flag contest, called “The Computer Crackers”, was organized. The contest took place at the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne. I was part of the team t1g3rs which came out second in the preliminary round. In the final question and answer competition we outflanked our competitors and we won first price - 1 kg of pure and solid aurum. For those who are proficient in German can learn more about the contest in this presentation.

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