At hacker summit, experts focus on preventing brazen attacks

LAS VEGAS — Against a backdrop of cyberattacks that amount to full-fledged sabotage, Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos brought a sobering message to the hackers and security experts assembled at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas. In effect, he said, it’s time to grow up.

Too many security researchers, he suggested, are focused on “really sexy, difficult problems” that don’t address the common vulnerabilities that allow malware attacks to wreak havoc. And too many security-minded hackers seem intent on demonstrating newly discovered hacks, such as making an ATM spit out cash or taking remote control of an internet-controlled car, rather than shoring up more mundane defenses.

While part of that reflects the healthy intellectual curiosity of hackers, it’s also driven by marketing and economic incentives, Stamos said. “I appreciate the showmanship, but we need a little more thoughtfulness, a little less showmanship in our field,” he told reporters after his speech.

Since May, the world has been rocked by two major international cyberattacks — the ransomware WannaCry and a likely state-sponsored attack called NotPetya that spread out of Ukraine. Those and other recent digital assaults have paralyzed hospitals, disrupted com- merce, caused blackouts and interfered with national elections.

Stamos himself was formerly the chief security officer at Yahoo, which last year disclosed breaches of more than a billion