MS Security Summit 2007

Some pictures during our "journey" going to Redmond, WA to attend "Microsoft Security Summit 2007" on June 11-13, 2007. From Vancouver, Canada, we (me and Rodel) traveled by his car going to Microsoft's campus. It was my first time crossing the border by land, so I have to secure clearance from the border security. I was interviewed by the security personnel, who is a retired US Navy. But to my surprise, the security person was a pure bicolano! (Bicolano refers to a person who comes (or originated) from Bicol Province in the Philippines). So the interview went very much casual, in fact we were talking in bicolano dialect. Cool! =)

US Border sign

After the border, our travel was smooth, until we reached the Seatle's Premium Outlets. Of course, it nice to check some branded items in a cheaper prices. I got a pair of Diesel shoes, for casual wear.

Premium Outlets in Seatle

Then, when we saw the sign below, we knew we're there inside Microsoft's campus already. If I heard it right, there are 116 buildings in Redmond campus of 3.1 million square feet (288,000 square meters) Oh yeah, thats huge right?
Anyway, we we're actually late when we arrived Monday afternoon, so we just hanged out with Trender people, like Jong, Joe, Jamez, etc, and waited for the shuttle bus going to Seatle's Needle Space. Actually its one of the reasons why I waited for this chance to attend the summit. The main reason is of course to experience the Microsoft's environment and to meet those guys from AV industry, and people from MS like Michael Howard, Mark Russinovich, and among others; and to have reason for my US B1/B2 visa application. Lolz!

Near Microsoft's gateway

Microsoft prepared the dinner at the Needle Space. You have the food and the view, woah! Awesome! :)

Seatle Space Needle

View from Space Needle

Vince (former Trender too like us, now working in MS) roamed us a bit more around downtown with his Mazda 3 :). The famous Starbucks coffee is one of many reasons why Seattle is popular. The picture below is the first and original Starbucks store:

The original Starbucks Coffee!

After more strolling around the downtown area, we went home and stayed at Vince's pad.

The next morning, we woke up earlier to catch for breakfast! One interesting topic is Mark Russinovich's talk about Vista securities and features. He discussed the security architecture of the Vista and some tweaks to make Vista more effective and efficient as they say. Another topic which caught my interest was Mike Howard's talk about Security Development Life Cycle (SDL). Also one presenter, discussed the IPv6 on Vista and its abundant feature list! And a bunch of evangelical preaches about Vista were discussed by other presenters. No doubt, they wanted to sell Vista to the audience! Other topics were for management people and a bit boring =)

Overall the summit was good enough. The foods were great. The experience of meeting AV guys was satisfying. And above all, the freebies (below) were..well..not bad! =P


Freebies:
- Windows Vista Security Guide (Book)
- The Security Development Life Cycle (Book)
- Writing Secure Code for Windows Vista (Book)
- Wireless Laser Mouse 5000
- Windows Vista Operating System
- Black Notebook
- USB flash disk

WinDbg Commands

WinDbg is a combination of User-Mode and Kernel-Mode debugger from M$, and a good alternative to OllyDbg and IDA Pro, especially when debugging Windows services.

I'm actually new to WinDbg, but it looks promising enough, it has lots of commands to get familiar with.

To start with WinDbg, download it for free from Microsoft website:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/installx86.mspx

Browse its Help file to get started with the commands, or you can check the ff links for some of the most commonly used commands:
http://www.tonyschr.net/debugging.htm
http://www.codeproject.com/debug/windbg_part1.asp#_Toc64133680