Author: Amy Cadagin, M3AAWG Executive Director

In October, M3AAWG brought together anti-abuse professionals from across disciplines to discuss the latest online threats and work collaboratively to develop best practices for identifying and preventing emerging forms of messaging abuse. The meeting marked a milestone for the organization, which in its sixteen year history has gathered cybersecurity professionals at 50 meetings to tackle the industry’s most pressing security challenges across a wide variety of topics, including 5G, stalkerware, artificial intelligence, robodiallers, abuse operations & GDPR, and much more. 

M3AAWG was honored to have Barbara Simons, Ph.D, Board of Advisors of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and Board Chair of Verified Voting, deliver the Meeting’s keynote address, “Voting in the Age of COVID-19.” In her address, Simons discussed the timely topic of election security, detailed why internet voting is fundamentally insecure, and delved into post-election ballot audits and how they are conducted. To learn more about the keynote address and view the full recording, visit our recent blog post.

Also at the meeting, M3AAWG held a number of Open Roundtable Sessions (ORT), giving all members the opportunity to shape M3AAWG’s work by discussing the most pressing topics in online security. These roundtable sessions explored various areas including cloud sending infrastructures, tracking and reporting engagement metrics, message authentication, and email forwarding. ORT sessions serve as the backbone of M3AAWG’s work, incubating new ideas and iterating on M3AAWG Best Common Practice resources.

We’re encouraged by the commitment of members to continue the vital collaborative work to address today’s most pressing threats in online abuse. If you were unable to attend the meeting, or would like to review any of the sessions, M3AAWG members can visit the M3AAWG member site to watch sessions in their entirety. In addition to the sessions included above, you can watch sessions discussing additional topics, listed below, on the M3AAWG member site:

Additional Sessions:

• What's all this 5G Stuff | Jon France, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) – A high-level overview of the evolution of 5G, lessons learned along the way, and the prevailing security mechanisms. 
• The Daily Secret to Securing Your Network | Barry Greene, Akamai Technologies: – A detailed look at Shadowserver’s Daily Network Report, a public benefit tool – funded by the community for the community.
• Artificial Intel: Flaws, Faux Pas and Successes | April Lorenzen, M3AAWG Senior Technical Advisor: An in-depth session taking a look at AI and ML applications and specific use-cases.
• Brand Protection from Robodiallers – What is new in 2020 | Russell Derrick, TD Bank; Kevin Rupy, Wiley Law LLP: A discussion on the brand name and trademark abuse through illegal robocalls, and potential solutions.
• Ritual to Robots: The Importance of Public Key Infrastructure for Abuse Prevention | Ash Wilson, Valimail: A look back at the history and high-level design of IoT applications, including Edge Computing, and the role of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) in abuse prevention in IoT applications.
• Stalkerware: when abuse follows you on your devices | Tara Hairston, Kaspersky; Martijn Grooten, Coalition Against Stalkerware: An exploration of stalkerware, how it works, and the role it plays in domestic abuse. The session also looks at what can be done to fight stalkerware and the work of the Coalition Against Stalkerware.

We want to thank all our members for attending and contributing to another great week of industry collaboration, with a special thanks for all our presenters. We’re looking forward to seeing all of you at our 51st General Meeting, to be held virtually from February 15-18, 2021. Stay tuned for details on the agenda and submit your session proposals here. You can also submit your nominations for our 11th annual Mary Litynski Award, which recognizes the lifetime achievements of an anti-abuse professional. Nominate yourself or a colleague ahead of the December 18th, 2020 deadline for consideration.