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Cybersecurity and the Dark Web 2.0

Yellow Bridge Convention Center Pittsburgh, PA October 15-17

SPEAKERS

ALDO IDLE

Mr. Idle is editor of the ASC Quarterly puzzles and games page, a post he has held since 2007. His cryptographic crosswords appear biannually, and his conventional crossword puzzles also have been published in the New York Times. Formerly an intelligence analyst for private security firms, Mr. Idle now breeds Jack Russell Terriers in Virginia.

Mr. Idle will present two sessions on each day of the conference. The morning sessions will review basic strategies for solving cryptographic crossword puzzles. Afternoon sessions will demonstrate how cryptographic crosswords are made, with the goal of producing a crowdsourced short grid puzzle via audience participation.

DR. EVELYN MCRAE

Dr. McRae is a 2009 graduate of the Nashaway Institute of Technology where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. A year later, she was awarded a master’s degree in the same field from NIT. In 2014, her dissertation on pi calculus in zero-knowledge proofs was awarded the Institute’s Tungsten Prize for doctoral candidates.

From 2015 to 2017, Dr. McRae participated in post-doctoral research at Oxford University, where she utilized spi calculus to describe cryptographic protocols in zero-knowledge proofs. In the summer of 2017, Dr. McRae returned to NIT as an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science.

Two of Dr. McRae’s non-scholarly articles have been published in the ASC Quarterly. Dr. McRae is renowned for her ability to analyze and explain zero-knowledge proofs, their structure and potential applications, with experts in the fields of cryptography and computer science, as well as for an interested general audience.

On Tuesday, October 15, Dr. McRae will present her latest academic paper on preventing the use of zero-knowledge proofs in black market online transactions. On Thursday, October 17, Dr. McRae will summarize her work and outline its implications for future cybersecurity and law enforcement efforts. A short Q&A will follow.

KHOURI ROBINSON

Mr. Robinson is founder and president of Plainsight Bank in Kansas City, Missouri. Plainsight partners traditional assets with early entry cryptocurrency investments to produce high yield rates for depositors while securing those deposits with industry leading cash reserves.

Mr. Robinson is a 2012 graduate of Stanford University and received an MBA from Harvard University in 2016. While enrolled at Harvard, Mr. Robinson also headed Miraquo Financial’s cryptocurrency division. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Cryptocurrencies for Mature Investors: Portfolio Diversity without Bandwagons, Scams, or Fads. On Wednesday, Mr. Robison will lead a seminar on reinvesting crypto assets safely and avoiding fraudulent transactions, with an emphasis on retired and senior investors.

M.Q. PERTH, KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Mr. Perth is a graduate of United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, where he studied data science, semiotics, and cyber operations research. He served as a commissioned intelligence officer during Operation Iraqi Freedom and retired with the rank of Lieutenant after leading anti-piracy missions as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in the Horn of Africa.

Mr. Perth transitioned to civilian life as an anti-piracy consultant for shipping companies active in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Today, he is the CEO of Prevention Ventures, LLC, maker of predictive criminal hotspot software now utilized by seventeen police departments in the United States and Canada.

On the evening of Wednesday, October 16, Mr. Perth will deliver the keynote address: What to Expect in Unexpected Internet Domains. A full dinner service will follow.

DAVINA ALLEN-FAUST

For over two decades, Ms. Allen-Faust has worked as an embedded journalist for The Western Spectator magazine. Her most recent feature length piece, “Silkier Roads on the Second Dark Web” appeared in the publication’s July edition this year. Cumulatively, she spent eighteen months creating and using subterranean online profiles to document the illegal importation of the banned Sardinian cheese casu martzu into the United States.

Ms. Allen-Faust’s online infiltration allowed her to track the banned product’s distribution to well-known restaurants, including ones owned by name brand celebrity chefs. She will be hosting a Q&A on Thursday evening during cocktail hour. Refreshments will be made available.