Patrik Runald recently joined Websense as Senior Manager, Security Research in the Websense Security Labs. We were able to tear him away from discovering and researching the most recent threats for a few minutes to talk about his work experience, perspective on today’s threats and his first impressions of the Websense Security Labs:
What areas of security research most interest you?
Well, I’ve been in the security industry for 14 years, working with malware and related threats all throughout my career. When I was with F-Secure (for 10 years before joining Websense) I was able to work hands-on with a lot of interesting and breaking exploits. As threats continue to move to the Web as the primary attack vector, I’ve found myself more interested in understanding and addressing these evolving Web-based threats. The fast pace of the evolution of these exploits is what continues to challenge me. It is a bit of an arms race, but with the right technology I believe it’s a challenge we can mitigate for businesses.
What personal research from your past are you most proud of?
Every day brings its new challenges, and staying on top of the latest threats is an intensive process. In the past though, I recall the particular intensity around Conficker, earlier this year. I was part of the team at F-Secure that alerted the world on the large amount of infected computers globally. Until that point, no one understood quite how large the problem was. As one of F-Secure’s representatives in the Conficker Working Group I was able to work hands-on - together with some of the brightest security people in the world -to mitigate the threat and ensure that the worm wouldn’t be able to download its secondary payload. The scourge was so fast and so big, and identifying, tracking and mitigating that threat was very exciting.
Why did you choose to join Websense?
As the threat vector has shifted and the exploit patterns have moved to the Web, I simply wanted to be where the action is. Throughout its evolution as a company, Websense has assimilated the most comprehensive research, data and technologies to identify, categorize and track not only threat factors, but the entire known Web. By scanning millions of Web sites every hour, Websense has an unprecedented view of the entire Web landscape, which helps us to better anticipate and develop solutions for problem areas and malicious elements of the Web.
You’ve been here a week, what are your impressions?
I guess what I am most astounded by is the sheer volume of data Websense has on the Internet landscape! With more than 50 million real-time data collecting systems –a vast repository of intelligence - we are able to better discern patterns of malicious behavior on the net, and are also able to connect exploits even if their code is obfuscated or polymorphic. These are the elements that help us to better understand threats, interpret new content on-the-fly and protect customers in real time, even with Web 2.0 sites where the content is constantly shifting.
What do you hope to achieve, directing the Websense Security Labs?
My goals for WebsenseSecurity Labs are:
-- Make sure that Websense continues to lead the market in securing the Web. I want everyone to think of Websense when they think about Web, email and data security, whether on-premise or in a SaaS model. To achieve this, we’ll continue to educate our customers and fellow researchers by getting our research out to the market in a fast and consistent way through our blogs. alerts and Twitter feed.
-- Continue to push for innovation. We have some amazing researchers in the lab and I want to make sure they get the opportunity to work on ideas that will further improve our products and the world’s understanding of the Web.
-- Apply my experience from dealing with very high volumes of malware to identify things we can do differently to better protect customers.
English (US)