Whether you’re an IT professional, cybersecurity genius or interested in learning more about tech innovations, we can all agree conventions are fun and informative! The advantages of attending technology events and conventions are networking, security education, and community outreach. We’ve created a list of the best cybersecurity & tech conferences to attend in 2019.
CypherCon
Milwaukee, WI. April 11-12
CypherCon does its best to be welcoming to beginners and non-hackers. CypherCon is a small infosec and cryptography-oriented hacker conference with talks, informal discussions, contests and challenges, and villages in a welcoming environment. Presentations cover security philosophy, hardware hacking, forensics, reverse engineering, protocol analysis, cryptographic algorithms, corporate and network security, privacy, and modern exploit techniques.
ThotCon
Chicago, IL. May 3-4
THOTCON is a low-budget, noncommercial conference. Topics likely to be featured in talks include data visualization, IoT, medical devices, computer/human interfaces, wearable computing, surveillance, and intelligence gathering. No talking is permitted during the presentations, but there are plenty of areas for discussion and various villages.
Apache Roadshow Chicago ‘19
Logan Square, Chicago, IL. May 13 – 14
The Apache Software Foundation and several Chicago Meetup Groups such as Chicago Hadoop User Group (CHUG), Chicago Kafka Enthusiast (CAKE), Chicago Java User Group (CJUG), Chicago Women in Big Data (CWiBD), and many many more, are partnering to host a two day Apache Road Show for approximately 200 attendees, focusing on Apache projects at work in AdTech, FinTech, Ecommerce, and more in the Chicago area, as well as a special focus on increasing diversity and encouraging involvement in smaller projects throughout the Apache Ecosystem.
CircleCityCon
Indianapolis, IN. May 31 – June 3
CircleCityCon is a community-based security conference centered around its community-led training classes offered to all participants. Many of these training sessions are offered for $5. Past classes included Wi-Fi exploits, threat hunting with ELK, social engineering, persuasive communication skills, Splunk, Cuckoo sandboxing, exploit development, memory forensics, and client-side attacks. Of course, don’t forget the chance to meet and talk with your peers about all topics including security, hacking, and the latest superhero movies.
DerbyCon
Louisville, KY. Training, September 18-19; conference, September 20-22
This conference prides itself on its friendliness. It’s a fun technology conference that welcomes not just experts, but also hobbyists and regular folk interested in security, so that they can learn, share ideas, and party together.
Who should attend: Security pros, penetration testers, application security specialists, threat intelligence analysts, system architects, researchers, system administrators, and students
GrrCon
Grand Rapids, MI. October 24-25
Student tickets go on sale March 1; conference tickets, April 1
GrrCon has fashioned its conference to prevent what it calls “the elitist ‘Diva’ nonsense.” It’s designed to offer a fun, informative event where CISOs, hackers, researchers, and security practitioners can share ideas and solutions with one another. Added bonus: free food and beer. In addition to three tracks, the conference includes multiple villages, contests, parties, and events (such as Hacker Family Feud).
