The Fallout and Lessons Learned from the CrowdStrike Fiasco - Shimon Modi, Jeff Pollard, Allie Mellen, Boaz Barzel - ASW #296
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
Release Date: 08/20/2024
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
What are your favorite resources for secure code? Co-hosts John Kinsella and Kalyani Pawar talk about the reality of bringing security into a business. We talk about the role of the OWASP Top 10 and the OWASP ASVS in crafting security programs. And balance that with a discussion in what's the best use of everyone's time -- developers and appsec folks alike -- in crafting code that's secure by design rather than just secure from scanner results. Visit for all the latest episodes! Show Notes:
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Secure code should be grounded more in concepts like secure by default and secure by design than by "spot the vuln" thinking. Matias Madou shares his experience in secure coding training and the importance of teaching critical thinking. He also discusses why critical thinking is so closely related to threat modeling and how LLMs can be a tool for helping developers get beyond the superficial advice of, "Think like an attacker." Visit for all the latest episodes! Show Notes:
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Just how bad can things get if someone clicks on a link? Rob Allen joins us again to talk about ransomware, why putting too much attention on clicking links misses the larger picture of effective defenses, and what orgs can do to prepare for an influx of holiday-infused ransomware targeting. Segment resources This segment is sponsored by ThreatLocker. Visit to learn more about them! Visit for all the latest episodes! Show Notes:
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Pull requests are a core part of collaboration, whether in open or closed source. GitHub has documented some of the security consequences of misconfiguring how PRs can trigger actions. But what happens when repo owners don't read the docs? Bar Kaduri and Roi Nisimi walk through their experience in reading docs, finding vulns, demonstrating exploits, and working with repo owners to improve their security. Their work highlights the challenges in maintaining good security guidance, figuring out secure defaults, and how so many orgs still struggle with triaging external security reports --...
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The post quantum encryption migration is going to be a challenge, but how much of a challenge? There are several reasons why it is different from every other protocol and cypher iteration in the past. Is today's hardware up to the task? Is it just swapping out a library, or is there more to it? What is the extent of software, systems, and architecture that have to be updated or replaced to complete the migration? Can we get it all done by 2030? Sandy Carielli and Martha Bennett join us to answer these questions and dive into one area of tech that hasn't been discussed much when it comes to...
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Ransomware attacks typically don't care about memory safety and dependency scanning, they often target old, unpatched vulns and too often they succeed. Rob Allen shares some of the biggest cases he's seen, what they have in common, and what appsec teams could do better to help them. Too much software still requires custom configuration to make it more secure. And too few software makers are embracing secure by default, let alone secure by design. In the news, passively monitoring geosynchronous satellite communications on the cheap, successful LLM poisoning of any size model with a single size...
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Interest and participation in the OWASP GenAI Security Project has exploded over the last two years. Steve Wilson explains why it was important for the project to grow beyond just a Top Ten list and address more audiences than just developers. He also talks about how the growth of AI Agents influences the areas that appsec teams need to focus on. Whether apps are created by genAI or directly use genAI, the future of securing software is going to be busy. Resources LLM security book on Amazon at This segment is sponsored by The OWASP GenAI Security Project. Visit to learn more! Visit for...
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Software has forever had flaws and humans have forever been finding and fixing them. With LLMs generating code, appsec has also been trying to determine how well LLMs can find flaws. Nico Waisman talks about XBOW's LLM-based pentesting, how it climbed a bug bounty leaderboard, how it uses feedback loops for better pentests, and how they handle (and even welcome!) hallucinations. In the news, using LLMs to find flaws, directory traversal in an MCP, another resource for learning cloud and AI security, spreadsheets and appsec, and more! Visit for all the latest episodes! Show Notes:
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In the news, Microsoft encounters a new cascade of avoidable errors with Entra ID, Apple improves iOS with hardware-backed memory safety, DeepSeek demonstrates the difficulty in reviewing models, curl reduces risk by eliminating code, preserving the context of code reviews, and more! Visit for all the latest episodes! Show Notes:
info_outlineThis week, Jeff Pollard and Allie Mellen join us to discuss the fallout and lessons learned from the CrowdStrike fiasco. They explore the reasons behind running in the kernel, the challenges of software quality, and the distinction between a security incident and an IT incident. They also touch on the need to reduce the attack surface and the importance of clear definitions in the cybersecurity industry. The conversation explores the need for a product security revolution and the importance of transparency and trust in security vendors.
As development cycles shorten and more responsibilities shift to developers, application security (AppSec) is rapidly evolving. Organizations are increasingly building mature programs that automate and enhance AppSec, moving beyond manual processes. In this discussion, we explore how organizations are adapting their AppSec practices, highlighting the challenges and milestones encountered along the way.
Key topics include the integration of security into the development lifecycle, the impact of emerging technologies, and strategies for fostering a security-first culture. Boaz Barzel shares his experiences and offers practical advice on overcoming common obstacles, ensuring that security measures keep pace with rapid technological advancements. This segment serves as a comprehensive guide for organizations striving to enhance their AppSec practices and continuously optimize their posture.
This segment is sponsored by OX Security. Visit https://securityweekly.com/oxbh to learn more about them!
Given the rapid rise of threat actors utilizing AI for cyber-attacks, security teams need advanced AI capabilities more than ever.
Shimon will discuss how Dataminr’s Pulse for Cyber Risk uses Dataminr’s leading multi-modal AI platform to provide the speed and scale required to build enterprise resilience in the modern cyber threat environment. Dataminr's world-leading AI platform helps companies stay informed - performing trillions of daily computations across billions of public data inputs from more than one million unique public data sources encompassing text, image, video, audio and sensor signals to provide real-time information when you need it most.
https://www.dataminr.com/resources/on-demand-webinar/why-cyber-physical-convergence-really-matters
This segment is sponsored by Dataminr. Visit https://securityweekly.com/dataminrbh to learn more about their world-leading AI platform perform!
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Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-296