Developers and designers work together to develop security apps
In my 20 years in the IT industry and 10+ years in security, I have learned that it is really a small world. You run into the same people over and over again. About 8 or 9 years ago I met Hart Rossman of SAIC while working on some US Government projects. I recently ran back into Hart, who is now the CTO for cyber security at SAIC. Hart is also the visionary behind a new movement called “Apps for Security“.
Apps for Security is creating a community to foster innovation and development of security related apps based on open source principles, open APIs and colloboration. Sort of open source meets crowd-sourcing. Of course, some might say that open source is the original crowd-sourcing example in technology. Having a community of developers that anyone can join is ingrained in the DNA of open source.
The group describes what they are doing though as this:
We believe in the positive power that open data, collaboration, and entrepreneurship can have on the safety and security of the Internet community. So, we thought it would be a fun & productive endeavor to create an open event to encourage like minded individuals and organizations to collaborate on applications that can be developed and deployed immediately for everyone’s benefit. The goal of Apps for Security is to promote civic engagement, open innovation, and entrepreneurship while making us all safer and more secure in cyberspace.
The event is a great collaborative effort with both private and government sponsors. Hart’s employer, SAIC is one of the founding members of Apps for Security. Anybody is invited to come down and participate. There are other Apps for Security events being planned for all over the country.
The first event is scheduled for Thursday, March 22, 2012, 10am-6pm, at The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, Ca.. You can register for the event here.
The developers can choose how to license or not the apps and code that is created at this event. Overall the concept seems pretty cool. Like an open hackathon, for me it captures that goodness that the open source movement represents to so many. It will be interesting to see if it catches on.
Hart and team are looking for more developers to sign on and for sponsors for future events. So if you are interested, check it out!
I had a chance to sit down with Hart and discuss the idea behind Apps for Security. Have a listen to the 14 minute or so conversation to find out more.
