Research collective “I am The Cavalry” may be forced to change their name, due to misunderstanding about what its intention is.
Speaking at 44CON in London, member Beau Woods called the movement “A path forward for public safety”, but admitted that, more a year into its action, it was considering changing the name as it is “not recognised in Asia or Europe as we are not riding in on horses and firing pistols”.
Looking back at its first year, Woods said that most people are putting trust in technologies whether or not they are worthy of it. “We want to ensure trust through research, and want others who are better at research to join us, and we see outreach as a key part of that,” he said.
“We are moving into the manufacturing and policy arenas and helping them understand what security means. You are the target group we need as resources. We want to have a long term vision for cyber safety. It is one thing to fix a vulnerability, another to make sure doesn’t come up in the devices we use, and if they do come up we can deal with them so it is not an exposed piece of equipment for the rest of its life.”
Looking back at work done in its first year, Woods said that research has been done so the next piece is as effective so it can continue with what the group wants to do, know how to do it and connect folks together and connect the output of research to the people it affects.
Looking at the work done, Woods said that it went in with a public safety human life message, and recipients were keen, and “helped us be better than alone”. He said: “The idea is if no one else is coming to do this, then we have to stand up and save ourselves. When we talk to medical device manufacturers and ask why they do not add security, they have good reasons. They say that if they change too much and add security, they cannot sell the product for 6-9 years and that can cost lives.
“We tend to be down on people, and it can work. We have to reach out of echo chamber and have power and access to change things.”
He said that one thing it fears is not a “Cyber Pearl Harbor”, but an equivalent of the Cuyahoga River which infamously caught fire and subsequently set off the US environmental policy. “It is something that had to happen and had to have a reaction,” he said. “Make it happen sooner, then better. It is not I am the Cavalry. It is all of us.”
Next year, Woods said that the group needs to do better communication and have more transparency into what it is doing, and provide more information so researchers can figure out what it is doing and connect on their own and to each other to make good things happen.
