Dear Colleague,

Computer security today evolves at a brisk pace, as both its operational relevance and the arms-race tension between attackers and defenders continue to grow. New services, new systems, and new networking architectures continuously add new dimensions to the field and subvert previously held assumptions. This symposium offers cutting-edge research on topics that range from making ordinary programs more robust through new classes of denial-of-service attacks.

Want to hear about new ideas for adding security hooks to software systems? Learn about sandboxing malicious applications? Understand new security issues with 802.11 and SSL? Curious about where Trusted Computing is going, or the realities of how responsive sites are when security patches are announced? Come to the 2003 USENIX Security Symposium and find out about these topics and many others.

Do you need to prevent and detect intrusions? Ensure WiFi security? Deal with DDoS attacks? Are you thinking about building honey pots, or would you like to understand the theory behind network security protocols? In our Security tutorials, experts such as Marcus Ranum, Radia Perlman, and Tina Bird will give you the information, techniques, tools, and strategies you need to practice effective security today--and tomorrow.

Keynote speaker "Black Unicorn" will talk about the central role played in security by notions of identity, reputation, and trust, drawing not only upon his cypherpunk background but also on his fascinating studies of the dynamics of money-laundering, black markets, and narcotics smuggling.

From the Invited Talks, discover the realities of physical security; how the rules change when your job is to defend, not a handful of servers, but 13,000; why the Internet is too secure already; whether the Internet is the ultimate surveillance network; and much more.

Join colleagues with similar interests for stimulating discussions at the evening Birds-of-a-Feather sessions. From the Work-in-Progress reports, get a preview of next year's news, or present fledgling work of your own and get feedback from the audience.

Whether you're a researcher, a system administrator, or a policy wonk, come to the 12th USENIX Security Symposium to find out how computer security is going to affect you in the future.

We look forward to seeing you in Washington, D.C., August 4-8, 2003.