Interview with Hugo Gonzalez, Android expert and trainer at the Honeynet Workshop 2015

Hugo Gonzalez is a full member of the Honeynet Project, and now is pursuing his PhD at University of New Brunswick, working at the Information Security Centre of Excellence. His research interest include Malware Authorship Attribution, Android Malware and Application Layer DoS attacks.

What was your motivation to enter Information Security field, and who inspired and helped you along the way?

I started in the Linux world because a speaker in a local conference. Then I discovered the network and then network security while helping at the University IT Lab. Since then, information security became a passion. Joining The Honeynet Project helped me to understand the big landscape of infosec.

How do keep yourself motivated in this line of work and how do you handle the competition & failures?

Academia and Industry provides me new challenges all the time. I like to read and practice to keep the loop. If you don’t fail, you are not learning nor doing new and exciting things.

Why is Global Honeynet Project important and why should people support this cause?

The tools and knowledge generated in the group had been the state of the art and state of the practice for long time.

What is your talk about and why people should join the event?

I will be talking about Android malware, from the basics to understand what is going on now. People who wants to know more about Android malware should join us in the talk and the training workshop.

What Security issues are being exploited and how to counter them?

Android is very popular, and malicious actors are exploiting the human factor. More is coming and we should be prepared.

How does your talk impact today’s security scenario?

Understanding the actual scenario will help to understand what we can expect in the near future.

What are the gaps in today’s security methods?

There are no silver bullet for mobile security. Within the device and the network we can confront the threats.

What are your suggestions for upcoming professionals?

Keep in the loop, read, research, practice. And overall, become part of the infosec community, share, discuss and question.