Cybersecurity Expert Tips for Making the Most of Black Hat USA 2024

As we head into a busy week at Black Hat USA, cybersecurity – and cybersecurity vendors – are making headlines. The recent DarkReading story, “Security Firm Accidentally Hires North Korean Hacker, Did Not KnowBe4,” is a sober reminder of the nation state threat risk. Meanwhile the industry remains focused on the cause – and the fallout – of the recent global IT outage, which cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike attributes to a buggy “security content configuration update” to its Falcon sensor. 

After a terrific RSAC, it’s hard not to have high expectations for Black Hat USA. Looking at the Briefings schedule, attendees won’t be disappointed. Among the topics featured:

• Election Security: Ever since she was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in July 2021, CISA Director Jen Easterly has become a regular presence at Black Hat. This year is no exception. In addition to participating in the keynote panel about election security risks and protecting democracy, “Democracy’s Biggest Year: The Fight for Secure Elections Around the World”, Easterly will speak on the main stage, “Let Me Tell You a Story: Technology and the 4 Vs,” and give a “government update” at the CISO Summit scheduled for Tuesday.
• AI: While not dominating the agenda, AI takes a star turn in a number of talks. A few sessions that look interesting include From the Office of the CISO: Smarter, Faster, Stronger Security in the Age of AI featuring Ann Johnson, Deputy CISO, Microsoft and Sherrod DeGrippo, Director of Threat Intelligence Strategy, Microsoft as well as Practical LLM Security: Takeaways From a Year in the Trenches and AI Safety and You: Perspectives on Evolving Risks and Impacts.
• Hackers and threat research: The core content of the show has always focused on hackers and their arsenal of TTPs, and what the industry can do to counter their attacks. A few talks that look good include Project Zero: Ten Years of ‘Make 0-Day Hard’; Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (Disinformation 2.0) Based on Learnings from 30 Years at NATO; “Unraveling the Mind Behind the APT – Analyzing the Role of Pretexting in CTI and Attribution and “How Hackers Changed the Media (and the Media Changed Hackers),” which features two cybersecurity beat reporters, Bob McMillan of the Wall Street Journal and Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai of TechCrunch. This is a “must-attend” event for any cybersecurity comms practitioners.
• Don’t forget the sponsored sessions: DarkReading Managing Editor Fahmida Rashid will be speaking with Chris Pierson, CEO and Founder of BlackCloak about “How to Mitigate Extortion and Ransomware Attacks.” Other sponsored talks worth checking out include “Cloud Cover: How Sophisticated Malicious Actors Are Leveraging Legitimate Cloud Services”, and “Are Takedowns Effective?” 

In addition to the sponsored sessions and briefings, be sure to check out:

Summit-time and the living is easy: While the CISO Summit has long been a pre-show event, over the years Black Hat has continued to add additional summits to the schedule. The last few years I have attended the OMDIA Analyst Summit, which has another great agenda planned. After initially selling out, the inaugural Black Hat AI Summit has expanded to accommodate more attendees. While those events require special registration, there are also “micro” summits, “Cyber Insurance” and “Industrial Control Systems”, that just require your Black Hat Briefings pass. 

Business Hall: Last year Black Hat had more than 400 exhibitors. This year the number will be fewer with over 350 solution providers on the Business Hall floor. Be sure to also check out the AI Zone, a dedicated space where attendees can network with leading artificial intelligence (AI) solution providers and view their demos. Just off the show floor, the Dark Reading News Desk features interviews with the industry’s top cybersecurity experts.

I’m excited to attend this year’s show with my Big Valley Marketing colleagues, Cybersecurity Media & Influencer Lead Alexis Harrison and Senior Social Media Manager Adriana Nguyen. Interested to learn more about how we help our cybersecurity clients “Grow.Win.Lead”? Contact us to schedule a meeting.