The Evolving Standard of Trust: A History of Broken Trust in Authentication (1980 - 2025)
Nathan Cooper
SAINTCON 2025 · Day 1 · Main Track 3
In "The Evolving Standard of Trust: A History of Broken Trust in Authentication (1980 - 2025)," Nathan Cooper, Director of Information Security, and Jake Bingham, an IT Technician, both from Lucid Software, present a compelling historical analysis of how authentication and trust mechanisms have consistently failed against evolving adversary tactics. Delivered at SAINTCON, this talk traces the trajectory of cyberattacks from rudimentary social engineering in the 1980s to the sophisticated, AI-driven deepfake frauds of today, illustrating a recurring theme: the inherent fragility of human trust and the futility of relying solely on "red flag" detection.