axel simon | SpeakerHub

Personal Details

Bio

Axel works on open source security at Red Hat, concentrating on software supply chain security, championing open source projects and communities such as Keylime (remote server attestation) and sigstore (simple software signing for everyone).

He previously worked on blockchains, researching and documenting the expanding blockchain landscape as Red Hat's subject matter expert, and systems security, in the shape of the open source confidential computing project Enarx.

His work allows him to combine his long-standing interest in free and open source software with distributed protocols and systems, among which the Internet.

He has been involved in open source communities for over a decade and is active in helping protect the Internet and its many wonders (knowledge sharing, access to information, decentralisation, Net neutrality) as part of the French non-profit La Quadrature du Net .

Current position (1)

Open Source Security expert

Red Hat

Degrees (2)

Master's degree in telecommunication, new media and the Internet management

Université Paris Dauphine

2008 to 2009

Bachelor's degree in finance, economics and management

Université Paris Dauphine

2006 to 2008

Presentations

Presentations (5)

(Open Source) Software Supply Security

Explaining the traceability and provenance issues in software supply chains and the work being done, by my team in the Red Hat Office of the CTO and beyond, to improve trust in the software we rely on, as a society.

Confidential Computing and Enarx

What is confidential computing, why is it needed, and how does the open source Enarx project aim to make confidential computing usable.

Blockchain & DLTs

A general introduction to blockchains and distributed ledger technologies.

When You Shouldn't Use Blockchains – or Smast Contract

An industry has built up telling you how perfect blockchains are for pretty much any application you can imagine. Except that they're not, and your business won't fail if you don't shift all of your processes to blockchain within the next six months. There is a need to look beyond the technical excitement and bizdev hype to reality.

This session takes a positive view of blockchain, and will discuss what blockchains and distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) are useful for, but will concentrate on providing attendees with an understanding of when they are a bad fit for your business, your stakeholders and your processes. The same approach will be taken for smart contracts, with an emphasis on understanding their match - or mismatch - for your business.

Did I Say Anonymity? I Meant Fungibility

If you want to have a currency, you want to have a fungible currency, that is to say, one where each coin can be used in place of any other. The same thing goes for a blockchain-based cryptocurrency. In practice, fungibility means that your blockchain must be able to manage tokens that can change hands without revealing who sent them, who received them or even how many were exchanged, all while guaranteeing that these unknown quantities exchanged by unknown entities were the right ones and not fraudulent ones.

Anonymity, while maintaining trust, is a tall order.

In this talk, we will look at the landscape of blockchain anonymization techniques and where these might be of interest beyond cryptocurrencies, in permissioned blockchains for instance.

Past talks (5)

Pros and cons of COVID19 apps

Québec National Assembly COVID technology hearing

Internet

August 12, 2020

When You Shouldn't Use Blockchains – or Smast Contract

OpenFinTech Forum 2018

New York

October 11, 2018

Did I Say Anonymity? I Meant Fungibility

OpenFinTech Forum 2018

New York