Black Hat has highlighted their 2018 event programming and new initiatives that will help make Black Hat USA 2018 its most successful show to date. The event welcomed nearly 19,000 of the most security-savvy professionals across the InfoSec spectrum - spanning academia, world-class researchers, and leaders in the public and private sectors. The event’s robust lineup featured groundbreaking content led by security experts who showcased the latest and greatest research currently impacting the industry.
The Black Hat Review Board, comprised of 24 renowned security experts, evaluated more submissions this year than ever before - producing the largest program to date. This year's conference welcomed more than 300 speakers and Trainers across more than 80 deeply technical Trainings and nearly 120 innovative research-based Briefings on stage.
Black Hat USA 2018 Highlights
- Keynote Parisa Tabriz, Director of Engineering and Project Zero for Google, presented “Optimistic Dissatisfaction with the Status Quo: Steps We Must Take to Improve Security in Complex Landscapes” to a bustling Mandalay Bay Events Center, which housed more than 6,000 attendees.
- CISO Summit welcomed 200 executives from top public and private organizations for an exclusive, program intended to give CISOs and other InfoSec executives more practical insight into the latest security trends and technologies and enterprise best practices.
- Arsenal returned for its ninth year, offering researchers and the open source community the ability to demonstrate tools they develop and use in their daily professions - live. This year's program featured more than 90 tools, including 11 Arsenal Theater Demos and a new space for open-source enthusiasts to work with researchers in a hands-on environment.
- Business Hall buzzed with more than 300 companies. Attendees were given the opportunity to experience hands-on learning, demonstrations, and education on the latest products and technologies impacting the industry, as well as deep dive sessions presented by vendors in the Business Hall Theaters.
"Black Hat is driven by the needs of the InfoSec community - giving back and helping to foster the next generation of security professionals is a priority and Black Hat is proud to highlight some of its most recent initiatives."
Black Hat USA 2018 Initiatives
- New Community Track: Developed to provide a focus on relevant issues currently impacting the InfoSec community, presented Briefings spanned careers, diversity, security awareness, health, and more. Insights and solutions from industry experts were provided to help individuals both new to InfoSec as well as seasoned professionals.
- New Community Programs: Over the years, Black Hat has expanded its community programming to shine a light on topics specific to the InfoSec community, as well as welcome a wider range of professionals to the event. This year’s offerings spanned scholarship opportunities, workshops, networking, activities promoting health and wellness, partnerships with non-profit organizations and more.
- Electronic Frontier Foundation Support: For the fifth year, Black Hat is proudly donating $50,000 to the EFF to continue supporting their important work in protecting civil liberties within the digital world. Black Hat has a strong partnership with the EFF to provide pro-bono legal consultations to security researchers on the legality of any research or data security they plan to present at the annual shows.
- Scholarships: Black Hat awarded more than 200 Academic Briefings Scholarships to deserving students from around the world. Black Hat and EWF again offered the Female Leaders Scholarship Program to minimize the gender gap among the InfoSec community and give students the opportunity to learn, network and collaborate with the world’s brightest minds. Event speakers were also given two complimentary Briefings passes per talk to be given to students of their choice.
- HERO Corps: Black Hat will be donating all proceeds from its specialized 2018 event t-shirt to the Human Exploitation Rescue Operative (HERO) Corps, a joint project of the National Association to Protect Children.
What's Next: Black Hat Europe 2018
Following a successful USA event, Black Hat is preparing for Black Hat Europe 2018, a four-day event taking place December 3-6, 2018 at the ExCeL in London, England. The event will bring together an international security audience for two days of intense classroom-style Trainings followed by two days of the infamous Black Hat Briefings presented by experts in the industry.
Future Black Hat information security event dates
- Black Hat Trainings 2018, Chicago, Illinois, October 22-23, 2018
- Black Hat Europe 2018, London, England, December 3-6, 2018
- Black Hat Asia 2019, Singapore, March 26-29, 2019
- Black Hat USA 2019, Las Vegas, Nevada, August 3-8, 2019