Matthew McMahon to teach medical device security course at DEFCON conference

Matthew McMahon, adjunct professor in Salve Regina’s graduate program in healthcare administration, is teaming up with product security expert Helen Negre to teach a pre-recorded two-hour training course on “Securing a Medical Device Network on a Shoestring Budget,” which will be streamed during DEFCON’s Biohacking Village on Sunday, August 9, from 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Matthew McMahon

McMahon will also participate in a live Q&A session on Discord, which will be moderated by DEFCON volunteers. Both the training presentation and Q&A session will be streamed and archived on the Biohacking Village and DEFCON channels for YouTube and Twitch, along with other distribution.

McMahon and Negre work as Product Security Experts at a large medical device manufacturer and have both taught as professors on the topics of cybersecurity and healthcare and digital forensics at the collegiate level.

The largest information security “hacker” convention in the world, DEFCON is typically attended by 30,000 security professionals but with the conference going virtual this year – and free – 300,000 are expected to dial in.

The Biohacking Village celebrates global health ingenuity arising from maker communities with the dynamic perspective of emerging biology, technology, and human- enhancement. Inventors, world-class makers, cybersecurity researchers, self-made entrepreneurs and other experts present on security, technology, engineering, devices, fabrication and more to create real solutions for some of humanity’s most pressing challenges and opportunities in the areas of health, education and security.

McMahon has developed courses in Cybersecurity and Resiliency in Healthcare and Cybersecurity and Healthcare Policy at Salve Regina. Both courses are requirements of the cybersecurity concentration in Salve’s master’s program in healthcare administration. He’s spoken on the topic of Cybersecurity and Healthcare at conferences and webinars such as the Health-ISAC’s Annual Summit’s, The Global Resilience Federation, The Healthcare Sector Coordinating Council’s 405(b) webinar series, Archimedes Medical Device Security 101 conference, New England’s HIMSS chapter events, at  Salve‘s Pell Center, the Rhode Island Corporate Cybersecurity Initiative (RICCI) Security Weekly, the Ocean State Higher Education Economic Development and Administration Network (OSHEAN) and at local hacker collectives (DEFCON401).

McMahon currently works full-time as the acting Product Security Officer for a large medical device manufacturer. Additionally, he works as a Cybersecurity Subject Matter Expert with The Horizon Program at MIT where he helps develop cybersecurity training content.

Find more information on DEFCON’s Biohacking Village and McMahon’s training here.