 Hey everybody, thanks for joining me for my talk 40 cores and a CPU. I'm Nico Smith people call me socks I'd like to thank DEF CON for having me And giving me the platform to talk and share my ideas as well as a big blacks and cyber security for Allow me to contribute to the effort of improving Black spaces in technology. All right, so here's a little bit about me Again, like I said, my name is Nico. I Typically go by socks. I'm an officer in the US Army National Guard With a little bit under 60 days before I return to the civilian sector. So that's great We I'm also a former C&D manager Which just simply means I'm a former cyber protection team member That held a leadership role. I'm a father one of my favorite jobs And I also spend a lot of my time maintaining my own infrastructure, you know With additional activities being the director of red team operations for blacks and cyber security founder of soldiers and saints CTF content creator. So I like to build CTF's and content that goes Within and for those of you here at the conference who are participating in blacks and cyber security CTF you'll be able to check out some of the work that I've been able to curate and put together along with my CTF development team Also on my hardware tinker and maker. I Like to see how things work. I've also developed the First functioning cybercoin and the entire DoD as well as the big technology badge that Those of you who are in attendance here have the privilege of either purchasing or having I'm also a mentor I like to dedicate Up to 30 hours a week to supporting young black entrepreneurs students People who are just generally interested and get into the information security realm I'd like to give my time to those to those people to kind of help improve the environment a Lot of people talk when they give talks they like to give agenda slides Well, instead of giving an agenda slide I'm a little bit less formal and I present my points of interest slide because we're talking about a Idea concept that partially implement it, but I feel could provide some useful insight We'll start off with background generally covering Things that that helped formulate the overarching ideas within this talk will move through Infrastructure we'll talk about ownership. We'll cover why ownership does not equal secure, but definitely could and We'll talk about Welcoming ourselves to the conversation and why I say conversation the global conversation And then we'll we'll kind of round it off with with C2 in this case considerations and costs and we'll we'll end it off with methods or ways that you'll be able to reach out and talk to me Hopefully first and follow-up discussion With that said, I'm gonna go ahead and switch on to To pure slides just so that you guys can just kind of focus on content and and not me So if you give me two seconds All right, there we go so 40 cores in a CPU. What's up with that title socks? as as some of you may know in the black community 40 acres and a mule is part of a General discussion is something that's referred to when we talk about reparations and about our collective Involvement with the creation of this great nation as you can see below 40 acres and a mule was part of a special fields order number 15 specifically Which was a wartime order that was proclaimed by Union General to Coons of Sherman or wound to Coons of Sherman and about 1865 where there was a lot at land of no more than 40 acres and also some mules to to assist these newly freed Families or these newly freed slaves in order to support the agrarian reform effort, but later there was some Some some Reclaiming of that of that environment or of that land that was previously distributed and returned back to the pre-war white owners When when I talk about 40 cores in CPU I hope that you're able to see the the similarities and how how I feel that will will be able to improve our our standing and and and increase increase the Possibilities the way that we interact the the general cyber community at large through this this idea that I've been mulling around But first we need to talk about internet access among black households according to the Joint Center for Political and Economics days because I did a little bit of research and this is kind of what I found As late as August 4th, 2020 That's at the beginning of the pandemic Or or toward the the beginning the earlier stages of the pandemic where we as a population in order to To secure our environments and to make sure that everyone else was safe we started taking on the roles where we were virtually learning teleworking and and Receiving government assistance through remote methods. Well that actual movement Ended up leaving out a large swath of the American population Primarily black people who are who were affected by this. We're looking at 34 percent of black adults who don't have home broadband that's 30 point also 30 point six Black households with one or more children age 17 or younger lacking high-speed home internet that's over 3.25 million black people or black children that live in this household and if the children are our future Think about how that will affect the landscape as we as we proceed and as we as we continue And within this within this country And then we found also or they found they discovered that was 23 percent of African-Americans our smart phone only internet users And with that also comes more restrictive data data caps That means that they're not really getting that robust interaction that they normally would Through using their cell phone that they would normally get from utilizing something like a Laptop or desktop and also having access to to broadband internet upon further Investigation we find that Pew Research Center performed a survey of about 6,000 American adults and of those adults 664 identified as African-American and Of course The research center had specific key groups that they were were looking to draw comparison about From men versus women over this young low-income versus high-income parents versus non-parents and they they came to these to these conclusions that today African-Americans trail whites by seven percentage points when it comes to overall internet use and 74% of whites and 62% blacks have some sort of broadband connection at home So that that kind of sounds sounds a little bit a little bit better What what both groups are more come into equal footing when we think about access or leveraging mobile platforms So that goes back to previous to the to the previous study that I read out to you back in August where we see More presence on Twitter LinkedIn things like that, but when it comes to actual utilization of desktop platforms and And and traditional internet methods We're seeing that that deficit and here we are at a at class divide Well, we'll speak briefly about my experiences and how it affected me So as a black person in cyber these things affected and bothered me not only because of the exterior easy to identify issues but because it was hard to see the problem and and not enough Internal solutions to close the gap decrease the divide and bring about change So it wasn't enough For me to to see what was going on that that wasn't the hardship the hardship was seeing the problem and Not seeing an internally resourced solution Because I'm I'm the type of guy that likes to if I instead of calling someone to come over and fix something I want to get involved I want to enable my friends who perform these jobs in order to come out and and create solutions for me And here are three ways that I was affected by the digital divide First off starting in college living off campus. I'm from Chicago lived on the South side I've lived in many places in Chicago, but I lived on the South side primarily during during this this particular point and While the college had labs and they were open until 1030 and during finals week till 1145 Late nights and and utilizing the the public transportation system wasn't always the safest option So I had to always keep time in mind with with my travel and and and how I got to and fro That ultimately affected, you know, my my school studies because either I needed to wake up super early to get to get to class or or leave and and and get home around a reasonable time to To perform my studies, but because I didn't have the technologies that I needed just to to complete my my course work There was always a a issue Competing agendas so to speak in order to to get me through get me through school Also, I really didn't meet another black American hacker or infosec professional until my late 20s so along the lines of Of the theme of deaf kind of, you know, don't stop the signal The signal was there, but it wasn't so strong Um, I knew that they existed. I just didn't see them um, and then third When lockdown happened, uh, and this is the most recent when when uh, cove it, uh, when when corona Lockdown procedures happened. My friend to marman asa She founded a she had already had a business. It was called mothers against senseless killings Uh station in the englewood community of chicago She asked me for laptops because she started to recognize that what the remote learning Model that was being implemented there were um, high school students grammar school students that were ill prepared um To to to take on and participate in this uh in this new way so we have a a social Constra contract so to speak where hey, we all care about making sure that we're all safe And we have uh issues that say hey We can't utilize this the end the in school learning But now you have to you you now need to go home. So now parents are becoming teachers and The technologies that they need to uh, the the students need in order to be successful in the classroom are now if not to a large major part and whole dependent upon the resources that The student has at home because certain school districts Uh are under resourced so that just, uh Amplified the issues that existed prior to prior to lockdown. So Um, what I was able to do and what I was happy to be able to do was I I started a large collection of laptops. Uh, I got people to donate laptops I re-imaged them Uh packed them up fed ex them and sent them out to uh to mass so that the children of the Englewood community will be able to um Who who were partaking in and mass programs will be able to uh perform their studies and be successful Uh in in school and so um, well throughout this this talk What my goal is is kind of to try and unpackage a very complex question And my main question is could ownership of data centers including IP blocks bare metal servers Provide space for the black community to have ownership in the digital domain I'm thinking, you know, uh the digital version of 40 acres of and a mule I also hope to explore um My experiences and and the perceived benefits and security concerns that May develop or disappear in this proposed solution So I I'm not saying that this is a perfect solution by any means Or that my idea um is is Something that uh has never been thought about before Um, I'm just proposing something to to get the conversation started. Uh, and Uh, I actually, you know, uh had the opportunity to go out and and and actually try to implement some of these ideas that that float around inside my head Oh, my favorite guy dr. Evil Um, that's what we'll call it infrastructure, right? And I posted a thought a kind of a a concept That I that I you know think is appropriate Technical issues require well thought out solutions The money to support longevity And an innovative lead to set and maintain course throughout its execution so It's not enough to see the problem and throw money at it and it's not enough to just take infrastructure and you know just Drop it on the corner and then say hey, okay. Now you now you have the means It's it's the synergy between having the Having understanding about what the problem is and having a person that understands the the technological means that will help aid and solve as well as Having the foresight to to kind of work In such a way that that they can come up with creative solutions along the way In order to ensure that the execution is as successful as it can be given the circumstance So with that said, well, let's talk about my first encounter with the need for my own infrastructure Which ultimately came Through wanting to get certifications Which I think many people who are who are attending this talk Can can understand But even more than that was the excitement to understand. I I have this insatiable appetite for trying to understand Just different technologies and how things work if you guys ever get a chance to talk to my mom She'll tell you I took apart toasters when I was two and uh telephones later on at three, which I got electrocuted from so um These these are the things that kind of Drive my my want to provide solutions And I I do believe the the solution could be found in in infrastructure so I've been I've been pretty lucky and my jobs in the in the private sector Provide me so much such a such a a robust experience From being exposed to literal data centers and And understanding what sys admins kind of how how they work around to bare metal appliances in point security And and later a cloud infrastructure and and these these bits of exposure throughout my life What would so deceased that would later bloom into what what I'll call now the free range stocks program right so Try to contain your laughs if you look to your right You'll see my very first piece of uh piece of uh of infrastructure that I purchased I own It's an old dale 910 um with a dumb switch and it it was called socks box uh because it had my my my ctf that I built and I would actually roll it around to different conferences just to get people To to become interested and try out well Here here is where I my first opportunity to put my money where my mouth is when I talk about you know providing solutions and getting involved My first scalable test Uh was through some cloud infrastructure that I acquired in the Netherlands Uh, how did I get there? Um, like I said before I like to build ctf challenges while I was working with security blue team and uh building challenges for them in the uk And I actually uh met uh an awesome young lady Uh named michelle and she was able to uh, I needed some infrastructure to build one of my challenges I needed a few eyepiece And she said hey well, you know, I own a I own a data center So, you know, I can you know, I can toss you a few for an x amount of price And it were it was super cheap. Like it was not like unreasonable at all and from that relationship I was able to uh actually uh begin building out, you know, uh a a very small scalable product, right? So, uh, I I discovered some things I discovered uh that Utilizing a cloud-based solution gave me a small technical footprint Um, but it also came with it came with some other problems because I wanted to set up a connection back to my Uh, my portable server my portable server stack the traffic forwarded back to my home Uh took away the took took away significant uh scalability However, I owned a slash 26 and a slash 26 and ip turns provides me with 16 publicly routable ip addresses so Either I want to take 16 boxes and put them out on it on the internet that other people can use or or provide services They're in or I I pick and choose how I'm gonna disseminate, but I I now have publicly facing infrastructure Uh, I also had the problem, uh with now I'm dependent on a Dutch engineer Uh, because she is she is an engineer amazing network engineer Um to solve my infrastructure ideas and my infrastructure issues Well, this put me into a very specific position where uh, I discovered that this is really great for about 10 to 20 people But the the the scale Not so, uh, not so big, right? Um, the first time I have to actually assistant and see a working idea of of how I imagine this could be was Two or one one school school student back in chicago Reached out to me. It's like hey, you know All I got is tablets and I need to you know, I need to get some get homework done Is there a way for you to help me? and I was able to take one of my boxes or or two of my boxes and and uh, set up a a remote environment or a vps virtual private or a virtual private machine For them to come back and be able to dial into from their tablets Into a working linux environment which allowed them to Write papers surf the internet and do what they needed to do in order to become successful in school um That that really excited me and really lit a fire under my butt so The next logical conclusion is I should I should buy a data center, right? That's the logical Uh, people think in this manner. They think this is a great idea, right? Now buy a data center Huh, I didn't buy a data center Not yet Um, I haven't purchased the data center in us yet, but I do own a few a slash 24s now the slash 24s Actually give me 254 publicly routable ip address. So I went from 16 to 254 times two, right? um So, uh, I also have some uh, some bare metal appliances and a few cages and if you look over to the pictures on your right um, it's hiding my smile But um, that's just a part of a rack that I'm in If I have uh, I have another rack as well But uh, I also have more more infrastructure inside of my racks than what is what is shown But what this provides me is more more more more scalability more control and more opportunity Um, I'll speak a little bit more and I'll dive in a little bit more about opportunity and in later slides but definitely now uh, I uh, it's it's like moving from your mother's basement to uh, owning a half of a city block and and This is me actually out in the out in my In my acreage in my 40 acres and I'm starting to plant and and build and and and I gotta raise a barn I need to get a you know a grain mill Uh of sorts and this is how we're getting there No bender. We will not start our own internet. That is not the idea But let's dive into how ownership um Can can present some some different uh perspectives So from from ownership and and again, this is not me selling or trying to sell My product my infrastructure at all I want other people in the black community to take my idea and And we'll speak a little bit to that about the why to that and in later slides as well But we get community invested results because now we own as a community we're able to start You know cyber and it technical incubation and I'm going to jump to the bottom bottom point on the slide We we now by having physical infrastructure have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience earlier Than before and augmentation of the educational process. So in my crazy vision I'm bringing grammar school eighth graders up to uh throughout high school um High school students to a data center to learn How infrastructure gets uh Implement it and and the different security uh measures that go into that. I mean, this is opportunity, right? Um more responsibility, of course, but better equipped users because they're getting it earlier And then uh, it also presents an answer to the digital divide as I was able to assist two people by myself Um in this situation. We're able to assist So much more than so many other people and then we'll have stronger connections to industry opportunities because Again, we uh, we are rearing and developing our own talent With uh, one of the best uh, best points in the entire slideshow is Normalization of technology and educational environments. I think that's just a really big way to say No matter where you are, what school you attend, what ward you're in or what city you're in You have the opportunity to have the same Technological experience that any other school Uh school student does through uh through the possession of infrastructure and and this type of mindset So own does not equal secure, but it could We have a few questions that come from this Uh while end-to-end ownership seems secure. This also opens up the discussion of targeting Would a cyber landscape owned completely by black americans create a target-rich environment for nefarious cyber actors? And would asn Autonomous system numbers that are specifically black Create more hardship for the black community And to those two questions Like everything else it depends I'd like to say that um That it's a work. It's worthwhile. It's worth us uh jumping out to see what happens in my opinion And the discussion of ownership also means the owner has the responsibility to secure their own infrastructure In order to maintain a healthy functioning environment Well, this goes without saying security is hard and even harder at scale And I'll be the first to tell you that everyone should not own But those who want to try should have access to try Um What what we're not trying to do is to create a instability inside of you know inside the web We have enough of that But what I am what I am trying to introduce is the opportunity for us to kind of change the face of technology Which brings us into welcome to the conversation While there's an overwhelming presence of black voices in the social domain So twitter linkedin you name it. We're we're there um I think that there still exists gaps uh and access to competitive cyber jobs those jobs that they're saying that they're trying to feel Um through having infrastructure and through taking on this this idea I believe that we shrink that gap and we provide a better uh better Resources and personnel much quicker Uh, and I'm not going to ignore the fact that the larger community and when I say larger community not just the black community I mean the entire infoset community Acknowledges diversity and inclusion is important However, I believe that black owned infrastructure could open the door for talent onboarding at larger numbers much quicker And while my approach is for nano sized infrastructure I never want to be or I don't have aspirations to be as big as aws google or or microsoft um I believe that this could help with providing um The viable candidates to the cyber career field as I spoke Uh as I spoke earlier through um decentralized but interconnected uh hubs Throughout the uh throughout the world or throughout the us to start And through ownership, I believe that there's opportunity to have a voice and amplify the voice of others so now we transition from from um from Listening and and taking on messages that are being decided and developed By others and we're actually at the table Influencing and changing things in such a way that when we look into cyber security We start to see our own faces reflected back at us And here's my c2 consideration and costs While I didn't purchase a data center to the right you'll see what the actual costs look like these are These are average costs from 10 million to 25 million um And that's if you intend on building a data center, which I think is a great goal But I think we could also start off with you know with co-location and with co-location We get introduced fees the cost of ip spaces ascent and hardware licensure as well as operation and maintenance fees But I believe that uh if we get this started It could be the the path that we start to set to get us in place to where we have an all-black data center um That that primarily works uh and develops a black talent in uh in the cyber field or in the black technologist uh realm Here's my resources As you can see I just checked out a few of them. I'm speaking wholly in part from my own experiences And uh, here's how you can reach me my twitter At nicolai smith one No, my name is not nicolai And But I do like black russians And two Here's my email uh in s 312 at sojournsains.com And then finally my linkedin feel free to reach out and thank you for attending my conference My talk at the at deftcon and again blacks and cyber security. Thank you and deftcon. Thank you