Samsung Electronics held the fourth Samsung Security Tech Forum (SSTF) on August 18th.

The company has held the forum annually since 2017 to expand the software base in the field of security technology and foster talents. This year, it was held online for the first time due to COVID-19.

“Our sprawling systems of information technology are like vast and vulnerable cattle ranches, Companies who fail at security can suffer huge fines and public ridicule, and those who succeed may enjoy the priceless trust of their customers,” emphasized Dr. Sebastian Seung, Corporate President and the Head of Samsung Research, in his Opening Remarks.

“Digital security and personal privacy are now recognized by all as tremendously important challenges because we are living our lives ever more online with each passing year. The Age of COVID has only accelerated the transformation,” he forecasted.
 

“As employees of Samsung, we care about security and privacy, because we want to create the world’s best products and services. As researchers, we are about security and privacy because they are fascinating intellectual problems,” Seung emphasized.

He added that Samsung Electronics should develop technology that not only considers technological aspects but also ethics, human rights, and societal ideals.

Seung wrapped up his Opening Remarks by expressing his hope that SSTF, held under the theme “Time to Rethink Privacy,” would function as a forum to rethink the meaning and importance of security.

Following Seung’s opening speech, △Yong Ho Hwang, vice president and team leader of Samsung Research Security Team; Daniel Ahn, Corporate SVP and Head of Security Team at Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications Business; world-class security expert Elisa Bertino of Purdue University; Professor Nicolas Papernot of the University of Toronto; and Professor Yeongjin Jang of Oregon State University gave keynote speeches.

Hwang and Ahn of Samsung gave keynote speeches on the topic “Toward Safe Life Experiences through Security and Privacy.”

Elisa Bertino, a professor of computer science at Purdue University, United States, and head of “Cyber Space Security Lab,” gave a keynote speech titled “Privacy in the Era of Big Data, Machine Learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and 5G,” which explained hacking attacks and methods in a 5G network environment.

Nicolas Papernot, who is both a professor of computer science at the University of Toronto, Canada, and the artificial intelligence (AI) chair at the Canadian Institute For Advanced Research (CIFAR), spoke on “What Does it Mean for Machine Learning (ML) to be Trustworthy?”

Professor Yeongjin Jang of Oregon State University, United States, and a winner of “DEFCON,” the world’s most authoritative international hacking contest, gave a talk on “Confidential and Private Computing using ORAM and TEE.”

Afterwards, researchers of Samsung Research introduced the latest security technology research being carried out at Samsung and the security features applied to Samsung products.

“Hacker’s Playground” was also available, where both hacking newbies and experts can participate. Unlike last year, this year’s event is conducted online, so those who were unable to participate in the field event so far could easily get in on the experience this year.