The InfoSec industry was born out of fear. Initially it was fear from virus infections and later, external attacks. We capitalized on that fear to build more secure environments. But fear is hard to manage: too much fear breeds paralysis, and too little fear breeds complacency. This talk will take a look at the history of fear in InfoSec, explore how its impact has shaped the industry, and how it is now getting in the way. Fortunately, we can provide the next generation a new paradigm to affect change. This talk presents some ideas on what the new security paradigm could be, and most importantly - how to enable a security-minded culture without using fear.

Dr. Catherine J. Ullman is a security researcher, speaker, and Senior Information Security Analyst at University at Buffalo with over 20 years of highly technical experience. In her current role, Cathy is a data forensics and incident response (DFIR) specialist, performing incident management, intrusion detection, investigative services, and personnel case resolution in a dynamic academic environment. She additionally builds security awareness amongst faculty and staff via a comprehensive department-wide program which educates and informs users about how to prevent and detect social engineering threats, and how to compute and digitally communicate safely. Cathy has presented at numerous prestigious information security conferences including DEF CON and Hacker Halted. In her (minimal) spare time, she enjoys visiting her adopted three-toed sloth Flash at the Buffalo zoo, researching death and the dead, and learning more about hacking things to make the world a more secure place.

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