The keynote for MacTech Conference will be Trammell Hudson of Thunderstrike and Magic Lantern fame. He’s a programmer and reverse engineer who focuses on low-level software and hardware security.
At Two Sigma Investments, Hudson is a security researcher and is developing Heads, an open source firmware for slightly more secure systems. Previously he developed lightweight operating system kernels and message passing systems for the world’s fastest supercomputers at Sandia National Labs.
Trammell’s security research into Apple’s hardware resulted in Thunderstrike and Thunderstrike II, the first proof-of-concept firmware rootkits for MacBooks. After working with Apple to patch the underlying vulnerabilities, he presented his findings at CCC, BlackHat and DEFCON.
Trammell is also well known for Magic Lantern Firmware — where he reverse engineered the firmware in the Canon 5D Mark II and started the Magic Lantern project that is now an open system for writing extensions that run inside Canon’s DSLR and mirrorless cameras.
He’s going to talk about The Value of Discovery. Trammell will show some of the ways you can go about diving into and taking apart technologies you are using. You’ll learn about the real-world benefits to understanding what’s going on behind the scenes and under the hood, and you’ll see some fun and interesting surprises along the way.
MacTech Conference 2017 will be held Nov. 15-17 (with pre-conference workshops on Nov. 14) at Westin LAX in Los Angeles. Early bird pricing, saving $400, is available through Oct. 16. Registration includes all sessions, meals, and activities.
