“Shockingly enough, I’ve never been to Defcon,” says longtime security researcher Ben Adida in a Wired article about the cancellation of the well-known event. “It’s never been a convenient time for me to travel. This might be the first year I attend. Remotely!”
The pandemic has rendered things virtual that would have seemed impossible before—virtual religious services, virtual cocktail hours, virtual college reunions, even virtual adventure camps for kids. And the benefit of these virtual gatherings and classes and trainings? They are open to everyone—around the world, all the time.
All major Cyber shows—RSA, DEF CON, Black Hat, etc.—will be going virtual for what’s left of 2020 and into 2021. You can find scheduling and registration information here and here. You can even watch RSA’s 2020 conference that happened earlier this year, with three days of keynotes and more than sixty sessions on demand.
What does that mean for you and your company? It means you can attend these conferences without having to travel there. And so can your cybersecurity teams. As ZDNet reports, “Cyber-security professionals who couldn't attend some of their favorite conferences before—primarily due to time, travel, or health reasons—may find that some events are now being streamed and they may be able to watch sessions from the comfort or their home or workspace.” Many tradeshows are even including virtual training as part of the programming lineup—contests, mock battles, and hacking attacks for example. And some groups have reduced the cost of attending—and a few are even free. Combining the reduced attendance price tag with no travel budget adds up to amazing savings – and results in opening these resources up to people around the globe. That’s good news for everyone.
Black Hat, for example, will be holding its conference August 1 through 6. Now in its 23rd year, Black Hat USA will be entirely virtual this year, but there will still be hands-on training opportunities, access to major experts from the field, and briefings on cutting-edge research on security risks and trends. DEF CON is also hosting a virtual event this year—August 7–9, 2020—and hackers are having quite a time talking about what it means that a “virus” is causing this kind of disruption.
As phoenixNAP reports, “Global cybersecurity ensures the infrastructure of global enterprises and economies, safeguarding the prosperity and well-being of citizens worldwide... Global cybersecurity conferences are a chance for stakeholders to address these issues and formulate strategies to defend against attacks and disseminate knowledge on new cybersecurity policies and procedures.” And now, disrupted by a pandemic, these events will be virtual—opening up their resources, knowledge, and expertise to even more people.
CYRIN® has been doing virtual training long before a pandemic rendered such things necessary. We know your time is tight. And we know companies need to train their workers onsite in a way that matches your company’s specific cybersecurity needs and schedules. Educators need to develop their own remote classes in this new pandemic world. Our next-generation cyber-range allows you to use real tools, real attacks, and real scenarios to hone your skills in a virtual environment. You can secure a Linux server system, analyze the security of a web application, or respond to a denial of service attack in a controlled environment. CYRIN allows you to practice on your own schedule from within your web browser—no custom software or travel necessary.