Explosive Overflow: Lessons From Rocket Science
07-12, 15:00–15:50 (US/Eastern), Tobin 201/202

Thirty-nine seconds after its launch towards space, rocket number 501 erupted into a scintillating fireball. No casualties were reported, other than perhaps the ego of a few software engineers. The 1996 inaugural flight of the Ariane 5 rocket was cut short due to a series of software design missteps. This talk will analyze these historical flaws to discuss resilience and product security, touching on the nuance of static analysis, testing, validation, legacy code, assumptions during design, and, for when things don't blow up, the unique challenge of proving that a negative event did not occur.

Mark El-Khoury started as an offensive security consultant, doing penetration testing and code and design reviews. Mark then expanded his skillset into the defensive side, leading cybersecurity at various organizations. Mark is a conference speaker, holds security certifications, and has been an instructor at a Columbia University cybersecurity bootcamp for over four years. Mark now works at Activision Blizzard, combining his passions for gaming and cybersecurity.
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