SummerCon Fellowship to Present FemTech Security Findings

The session, “Tracking the Period Trackers,” is sponsored by a grant funded by Capsule8


BROOKLYN, N.Y., June 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Capsule8, the only company providing high-performance attack protection for Linux production environments, today announced that Wendy Edwards and Jacqueline Xavier, the recipients of the SummerCon Fellowship, will be presenting their research, “Tracking the Period Trackers,” at SummerCon on Friday, June 14 at 11:00 am ET. The SummerCon Fellowship is a $10,000 grant funded by Capsule8 that helps people pursue a 6-month independent information security research project and present their findings at SummerCon, one of the oldest hacker conventions, and the longest running such conference in America.

The research focuses on the security and privacy of period tracking apps, which help women track their menstrual periods and other aspects of their reproductive health. Edwards and Xavier selected 10 popular period tracking apps and discuss privacy issues related to mobile applications. The pair will also introduce static and dynamic analysis techniques they used to evaluate the behavior of the apps. Additionally, they will share information about freely available resources that researchers and concerned citizens can use to examine Android apps for privacy and security issues.

“As a company, many of the folks on our team got their starts in security research, so it is an honor to have given Jacqueline and Wendy the resources necessary in helping them pursue their own research project,” said John Viega, CEO, Capsule8. “We are looking forward to Jacqueline and Wendy’s presentation and what we are sure will be many more research projects to come.”
     
The researchers were selected through a competitive grant application process in January. Wendy Edwards is a programmer at a nonprofit who participated in the SANS Women’s Academy for security training and the NASA Datanauts program. Jacqueline Xavier is a fourth-year student studying Health Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She is entering into a Medical Laboratory Science program next January and is the founder of an upcoming DEF CON chapter, DC574, for South Bend, Indiana.

To learn more about SummerCon, or the research being presented, please visit https://www.summercon.org/

About Capsule8
Founded in fall 2016 and headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, Capsule8 is the only company providing high-performance attack protection for Linux production environments – whether containerized, virtualized, or bare metal. Capsule8 frees up SecOps teams, while being safe for even the busiest workloads, on the busiest networks. Founded by experienced hackers and seasoned security entrepreneurs, and funded by Bessemer Venture Partners and ClearSky, Capsule8 is making it possible for Linux-powered enterprises to modernize without compromise. Learn more at www.Capsule8.com.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Media Contacts:
Lisa Mokaba
Capsule8
lisa@capsule8.com
617-750-5939