Security & Deception: Lessons From a Professional Liar
Northern Virginia Software Symposium
Reston · November 9 - 11, 2018
About this Presentation
“Forewarned is forearmed”
-Old Proverb
If it seems like humans are easy to deceive, it's because we are. The myriad traits that make humankind so eminently exploitable are practically baked into our DNA. Too often these same traits make it into the software we build. This session takes an entertaining look at why humans are so easy to fool and goes on to explore what we can do to overcome our weaknesses and build more secure software.
Security is everyone's responsibility but the burden disproportionally falls on us. As software engineers, we are the last line of defense in our organization. We build the technology and that technology is constantly scanned, probed, and tested. Building truly secure software requires going beyond mere functional requirements; it requires a complete shift in how we think about problems.
Software Architect & Magician
Michael Carducci spent years learning to see things as they actually are; first as a magician, then as a software architect, now as both simultaneously. And somehow that’s not even the whole story.
He’s the author of Mastering Software Architecture (Apress, 2025) and is currently writing The Semantic Layer. He has spent over 25 years following interesting problems; through roles from individual contributor to CTO and back again, across industries and continents.
As a speaker, he applies the same toolkit he uses in close-up magic: attention, misdirection, timing, storytelling, and the instinct to take the long way around when that’s where the truth lives. Audiences at hundreds of conferences across four continents have described his talks as the kind that change how you think about a problem rather than just what you know about it.
He also makes YouTube videos about technology and curiosity with his wife Kate, because some ideas are too important (or too interesting!) to leave only in conference rooms.