Openstack Seattle Meetup: A Deep Dive of the OpenStack Security Project

Featuring Jamie Finnigan and Nathaniel Dillon of HP.

Security is a primary concern for cloud users and deployers alike. OpenStack in particular has a very active and vibrant community, with over 1800 contributors to the latest release, but also faces the same security challenges that any large software project does. How should we deal with vulnerabilities? What secure configuration choices should I use when deploying a cloud? As a developer what do I need to know to write secure code? Since 2012 the OpenStack security project has existed to help answer these questions and develop tools and guidance. This talk will briefly discuss the various initiatives the OpenStack security project are involved in and provide information for interested developers, security professionals, and students to get involved.

Jamie Finnigan is a member of the Cloud Security team at HP, with responsiblity for security of the HP Helion portfolio of OpenStack-based products and services. Currently in a manager role with service and product-focused responsibilities around security operations, security architecture, and GRC, Jamie has previously gained significant experience with penetration testing, source code review, and security tool development/scripting while working as both builder and breaker across a variety of consultative and operational security roles. Jamie is a member of and contributor to the OpenStack Security Group and Bandit core.

Nathaniel Dillon is Security Engineer for HP Helion with a wide range of responsibilites and interests, from operations to system hardening and tool development. Lately he has been focused on container security and kernel security solutions such as GRSEC. Nathaniel is the lead contributer to the OpenStack Security Guide and an active participant in the Security Project.