Tag Archive for: IT Security

International Common Criteria Conference

SRC gives lecture on JTEMS at the Inter­na­tional Common Criteria Conference in Amsterdam

From 30 October to 1 November, the 17th Inter­na­tional Common Criteria Conference will take place in Amsterdam. The Inter­na­tional Common Criteria Conference is presented with the support of the Common Criteria User Forum (CCUF). The CCUF provides a voice and commu­ni­cation channel between the CC community and the organ­ising committees of the Common Criteria, CCRA member organ­i­sa­tions (national programmes) and policy makers.

SRC will also actively partic­ipate in this year’s conference. In a presen­tation by our expert Sven-Martin Hühne on the topic “JTEMS — a Payment Scheme Independent Framework for POI Terminal specific Security Evalu­a­tions based on Common Criteria” the JTEMS Framework is presented and the current “state of affairs” is explained. The presen­tation deals with the advan­tages of a CC-based and Payment Scheme independent evalu­ation and certi­fi­cation procedure for POI terminals. The framework is a living example of the active use of the CC method by inter­ested parties from the private sector (German banking industry and UK Finance or Common.SECC). The possi­bility of embedding the JTEMS framework in current discus­sions of the EU Commission for a “European Security Certi­fi­cation Scheme” will also be discussed.

In the panel discussion “The Why and How of Using CC in Private Schemes”, Regine Quent­meier discusses these aspects from the point of view of users from the European banking industry in an exchange with repre­sen­ta­tives of other economic sectors.

Employee Interview

From Quantum Physicist to Security Analyst at SRC — An Employee Interview

The following employee interview with Dr. Max Hettrich allows a look behind the scenes of SRC. We at SRC always have an open ear for our employees and are happy that we were able to ask Max about his career and his work at SRC.

Hey, Max, let’s just start right away. What education do you have?

I’m a physicist. After my studies I first worked in academic research, namely in exper­i­mental quantum optics. It was all about lasers, vacuum chambers, and quantum physics. But also computer simula­tions and digital measurement technology. The IT topic has always been there, even if not in the first place.

How did you become aware of SRC and the job adver­tisement and why did you apply to SRC?

I became aware of SRC through a colleague at that time, who again knew an employee at SRC. After I learned that physi­cists are very welcome at SRC and that I have always been inter­ested in IT security topics, my curiosity was aroused.

How long have you been with SRC?

I joined SRC in July 2017, less than a year ago.

How did your training go?

Very carefully considered and struc­tured. Those respon­sible have really thought carefully about the projects to be considered. I always had enough freedom to find out which topics I liked most.

Which topics are you currently working on?

On the one hand, I deal with many compliance issues in the IT security environment, and on the other hand with reverse engineering of software for mobile devices in order to assess their security against various attack scenarios. These are two quite different subject areas, but they complement each other perfectly.

What are your main tasks and activ­ities in your daily work routine?

Compliance projects are always about analysing a customer’s system and assessing if it meets regulatory require­ments. Since no two systems are alike, it never gets boring.

The goal of reverse engineering is to under­stand the function of software and to extract any hidden assets without having access to the source code. This requires, for example, reading and analysing native code or debugging and instru­menting running programmes.

What does your typical working day look like? Do you travel a lot?

Mostly I work in my office in the SRC office in Wiesbaden. I am, atypical for a consulting firm, rather little on travel, since most work can be done simply best if I am in direct contact with my colleagues on site.

What do you partic­u­larly like about SRC?

I find the rather flat hierarchy partic­u­larly positive, and great freedom with regard to the selection of fields of activity.

And how do you feel about the working atmos­phere at SRC?

I find the atmos­phere here extremely pleasant. The fact that SRC is a rather small company with about 120 employees allows a rather informal and direct commu­ni­cation among each other. I believe that many conflicts do not arise as a result.

Keyword Work-Life-Balance: How can work at SRC be recon­ciled with your private life?

This really works out great! Our working hours at SRC are flexible, overtime hours are always logged and can be compen­sated later.

What do you think appli­cants need to bring with them in order to be successful at SRC?

I think the most important thing is a pronounced analytical thinking, and strong self-initiative. If you already have experience in one of SRC’s fields of activity, the better. But my impression is that gener­alists are also welcome at the SRC. You then have the oppor­tunity to acquire the necessary specialist knowledge on more closely defined topics as required.

One last question: What would you suggest to potential applicants?

Don’t be shy! You can easily find out whether you like SRC’s fields of activity if you have a look at our website and our career portal. If this is the case: Just send us your application!

KRITIS 2018

Critical Day 2018 | Knowledge and experience in a lively exchange

The Critical Day

On 25 April 2018 the first Critical Day took place at the SRC Conference Centre. This was the premiere of a series of events that offers a top-class platform for exchange. This is primarily aimed at repre­sen­ta­tives of companies that operate a critical infra­structure (KRITIS). The Critical Day serves above all to establish personal contacts and to exchange experi­ences and best practices on IT and physical security of critical infrastructures.

The Schedule

After the arrival of the first partic­i­pants, a lively exchange on the topics began. At the start of the Critical Day, the fully booked hall documented the partic­i­pants’ need for information.

Top-class speakers gave an overview of the topic KRITIS. Isabel Münch, Head of CK3 and repre­sen­tative of the Federal Office for Infor­mation Security (BSI), explained the proce­dures and processes in the super­visory authority. Randolf Skerka, Head of SRC and respon­sible for the topic of auditing according to §8a (3) BSIG, described the first experi­ences from the perspective of the auditing body. The Klinikum Lünen was the first to provide proof of the audit according to §8a (3) BSIG. Ralf Plomann, Head of IT at Klinikum Lünen, gave impressive insights into the devel­opment of hospital organ­i­sation in prepa­ration for the audit. Prof. Dr. med. Andreas Becker, who made it clear that sound industry expertise is an essential and indis­pensable corner­stone of a meaningful exami­nation, rounded off the morning.

The expert presen­ta­tions gave the partic­i­pants a 360° view of the require­ments of the BSI audits, which were largely and with good reason vaguely formulated.

At the end of the morning the visual artist Frank Rogge described his view on the questions of criti­cality in the field of artistic creation.

The afternoon was completely dedicated to the main interests of the partic­i­pants. Under the moder­ation of Jochen Schumacher, co-organiser at SRC, the afternoon was arranged.

The partic­i­pants indepen­dently organized the various contents for nine sessions.

The most signif­icant results of the afternoon

From the session ” Submitting certi­fi­cation findings to the BSI ” it became clear that the BSI does not expect, for example, any “classical” findings or devia­tions formu­lated down to the last technical detail. A roughly described framework of devia­tions and a description of a course of action in the test report is useful. Never­theless, an appro­priate measure must be in place for each risk within a critical infra­structure. This is of enormous impor­tance for the BSI.

The BSI wishes to cooperate closely with the various Kritis companies. The aim is to strengthen the security of IT in Germany.

In the session ” IT Security Awareness in the company ” Ralf Plomann presented the method and imple­men­tation of measures at the Lünen Hospital. The individual approach would be very important here. Every individual in the company would be respon­sible for IT security. In the individual address, every employee would have to be picked up where he is at the moment. According to Plomann, this is especially the case because almost no one would read guide­lines any more. Therefore, more creative approaches should be chosen. Ralf Plomann’s wish for the future: “Awareness for IT security should start at school from upper secondary level”. In the course of the next session, a clear trend towards e‑learning platforms for improving awareness emerged.

In another session, the partic­i­pants focused on the safe and simple defin­ition of the scope. The pyramid model was partic­u­larly favoured in the discussion. The service classified as critical is the best starting point for defining the scope. For example, when it comes to the critical infra­structure of a sewage treatment plant, the defin­ition of the scope requires identi­fying and deter­mining which systems clarify the water, what effects a failure would have and how this failure can be compen­sated by other methods to maintain the critical service.

With this method you system­at­i­cally move to the outer perimeter. If you get to systems that are no longer critical, the limit of the scope is reached.

Conclusion of the first “Critical Day” from SRC’s point of view

An example of the fasci­nating atmos­phere was the contin­u­ation of the bilateral commu­ni­cation of the partic­i­pants between the individual sessions. The feedback proved that the partic­i­pants were able to make many new contacts and gain insights from other KRITIS projects.

The overall positive response of the partic­i­pants shows us as SRC that the Critical Day is a useful hub for the exchange of infor­mation on KRITIS projects between the partic­i­pants. Our thanks goes to all partic­i­pants who contributed funda­men­tally to the success of the Critical Day with their open-mindedness and commitment.

We regard the Critical Day as a successful exper­iment. This motivates us to start preparing for a follow-up event.

SmartCard Workshop

SmartCard Workshop on 21 and 22 February 2018 in Darmstadt

Focus of the SmartCard Workshop

The SmartCard Workshop will take place on 21 and 22 February 2018 in Darmstadt. It is one of the most important events for smart cards in Germany. The partic­i­pants come from all areas of industry, science and politics. They partic­u­larly appre­ciate the technical orien­tation of the workshop and its extensive neutrality. The workshop offers partic­i­pants and experts a forum to present new operating system concepts and conceivable new features and appli­ca­tions, as well as to discuss the current state of devel­opment, cryptog­raphy, infor­mation security and standardization.

SRC expert explains authen­ti­cation procedures

This year, SRC expert Sandro Amendola will give a presen­tation on security-related and regulatory issues in the “Regis­tration of App-based authen­ti­cation proce­dures”. Such authen­ti­cation methods play an important role in many digital appli­ca­tions and have become very important for all users of online banking systems, especially due to the regulation of the banking market by the PSD2.

Evening event with award ceremony

A special highlight is the evening event. Each year, one expert is honored with the SmartCard prize for special achieve­ments. The prize is donated by Fraun­hofer SIT.

SRC actively partic­i­pates in SmartCard Workshop

SRC supports the workshop as sponsor and through active partic­i­pation in the Programme Advisory Board.

Image source: Fraun­hofer SIT

Tag Archive for: IT Security