Call for Papers

Open:

Open:

Coming Soon:

Closed:

What are the Black Hat Briefings?

Since their inception, Black Hat Briefings continue to provide security professionals with a place to learn the very latest in information security risks, research and trends. Leading security researchers from around the world take the stage each year to share their latest work and exploits in a friendly, vendor-neutral environment. Attendees will experience groundbreaking research on topics ranging from vulnerabilities within popular consumer devices, to critical international infrastructure threats, and everything in between.

---

Briefings Format

Briefings are presented live and in-person with on-demand recordings of Briefings available after the event. (On-demand recordings will be available to Briefings passholders beginning one week after the live event and will be available for 30 days.)

---

Track Descriptions

Determine which track(s) your submission falls under. A complete list of track descriptions can be found below. If you're unsure which track(s) your submission fits best, you can now select “unsure” in the track list in the CFP system and the review board will assign your submission to the appropriate track(s)

• Black Hat Asia
• Black Hat Europe
• Black Hat USA
• SecTor

---

Resources

Optional resources to help you create your proposal.

Articles and Blog Posts

• How to Become a Black Hat Speaker (Sheila Berta, Black Hat Review Board Member)
• Black Hat AI Track Submissions (Nathan Hamiel, Black Hat Review Board Member)
• Secrets of Submitting to Black Hat: A Guide to Writing a Successful Submission (Lidia Giuliano, Marina Krotofil, Stefano Zanero, Black Hat Review Board Members)
• Wish List of an Infosec Conference Content Reviewer (Kymberlee Price, Black Hat Review Board Member)

Submission Preparation & Portal Navigation

• Black Hat USA 2025 CFP Submission Instructions: A guide to submission preparation and portal navigation.
• SecTor 2025 CFP Submission Instructions: A guide to submission preparation and portal navigation.

Sample Submissions

View samples of accepted submissions that received positive reviews:

View Black Hat USA Samples (PDF)

View SecTor Samples (PDF)

---

White Papers

Submissions that include White Papers are highly encouraged and will also be given priority.

There are no specific white paper templates, rules, or limitations, however the system will only allow .txt files to be uploaded, so please provide a link to your white paper in the section marked “White Paper/Slide Deck/Supporting Materials”.

---

Tools

If you will be releasing a new tool in conjunction with your proposed Briefing, please answer the following question within the Briefings Submission Platform: “Will You Be Releasing a New Tool?” Please briefly describe the tool and how it complements your presentation (including category - open source or commercial, planned release date and license type).

FAQs

---

Coordinated Disclosure

Black Hat strongly supports and encourages coordinated disclosure. To this end, Black Hat has a strong partnership with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to provide pro-bono legal consultations to security researchers on the legality of any research or data they plan to present at the event.

If you have questions about the legal implications of your security research or presentation, contact Electronic Frontier Foundation at info@eff.org.

---

Review Board & Content Selection

The Black Hat Review Boards are comprised of the industry's most credible and distinguished security professionals and thought leaders throughout various areas of the information security community. The Review Boards advise Black Hat on reviewing and programming conference content and providing unparalleled insight into the research community.

Black Hat strives to deliver one of the most empirical content selection processes in the industry. All submissions are vetted thoroughly by the Review Boards. Each submission is reviewed for uniqueness, overall content expertise, and accuracy before any selections are made. Through the course of this dynamic review process, Review Board members may ask researchers for clarity on areas of question in their submission(s) – whether it be about the uniqueness or audacity of claims made. The best submissions come with academic-grade papers, proof-of-concept code, and/or video demonstrations of the work done. Of note, Black Hat does not support pay-for-play Briefings. The Briefings are, and always have been, independently selected based on quality of content and area of expertise rather than sponsorship.

---

Speaker Benefits^*

Black Hat USA

• Scholarship Nominations: 2 Student Scholarship Nominations per session.
• Briefings Pass^*: One complimentary Briefings pass per Speaker/Contributor
• Honorarium: $1,000 USD for one Speaker per session.
• Air Travel Reimbursement^**: Up to $1,000 USD (domestic) or $1,500 USD (international) for one speaker per session.
• Accommodations^***: 3 Nights for One Speaker per Session.
• Speaker Coaching Program: Access to the complimentary speaker coaching program.

Black Hat Europe & Black Hat Asia

• Scholarship Nominations: 2 Student Scholarship Nominations per session.
• Briefings Pass^*: One complimentary Briefings pass per Speaker/Contributor
• Honorarium: $1,000 USD for one Speaker per session.
• Air Travel Reimbursement^**: Up to $1,000 USD (domestic) or $1,300 USD (international) for one speaker per session.
• Accommodations^***: 3 Nights for One Speaker per Session.
• Access to the complimentary speaker coaching program.

SecTor

• Scholarship Nominations: 2 Student Scholarship Nominations per session.
• Briefings Pass^*: One complimentary Briefings pass per Speaker/Contributor
• Honorarium: $500 USD for one Speaker per session.
• Air Travel Reimbursement^**: Up to $900 USD for one speaker per session.
• Accommodations^***: 3 Nights for One Speaker per Session.

^*A maximum of 5 passes are available for speakers and contributors listed in the original CFP submission.
^**Receipt required. Not available to local speakers.
^***Accommodations will be booked and paid for (room and tax) by Black Hat. Rooms booked outside of the speaker block will not be reimbursed.

Speaker Coaching Program:

• Speakers selected to present a Black Hat Briefings session at Black Hat USA, Asia, or Europe, are eligible to participate in the complimentary Speaker Coaching Program. Launched in 2019, this program offers coaching from past Black Hat speakers, Review Board Members, and other renowned industry experts.

  With a participation rate of over 40%, the program was designed to provide feedback and support for all aspects of presentation preparation, including content refinement and rehearsal. The program is customizable to meet the speaker’s needs, whether they are a first-time speaker, or an experienced presenter looking to fine-tune their skills and ensure the content resonates with the Black Hat audience.

  Meet the Speaker Coaches

^*These benefits are available to Briefings Speakers Only. For speaker benefits for other programs, such as Arsenal, Summits, Community, etc., please contact the appropriate program manager.

---

Submission Requirements

1. Submissions may only be entered by researchers/speakers (no submissions from PR firms/marketing representatives).
2. Black Hat does not accept product or vendor-related pitches and will disqualify any product or vendor pitch.
3. Submissions must clearly detail the concepts, ideas, findings, and solutions a researcher or speaking team plans to present.
4. Submissions that highlight new research, tools, vulnerabilities, etc. will be given priority.
5. Submissions that include White Papers are highly encouraged and will also be given priority.
6. Black Hat will disqualify incomplete submissions; complete your submission in its entirety.
7. Individuals may submit more than one proposal, but each proposal must be submitted via a separate submission form.
8. Each submission must include biographies of the proposed speaking team.
9. Submitters may be contacted directly if Review Board members have questions about a submission.
10. Submissions that include text generated entirely from a large-scale language model (LLM) such as ChatGPT, Google Bard, etc. are prohibited. Submitters may use LLM tools for editing or polishing author-written text ONLY.
11. Selected speakers are expected to present in-person.

Terms

By submitting a proposal via the Black Hat Call for Papers system, submitters selected to speak understand and agree to the Terms as detailed in this section.

• By speaking at a Black Hat conference, Speakers grant Black Hat permission to record, reproduce, distribute, advertise, and show a Speaker's presentation including but not limited to blackhat.com, conference proceedings and materials, audio, video, printed and/or electronic ads, fliers, mailers, etc.
• The Black Hat Review Boards will have access to all submissions and materials.
  • Review Board access to submissions is provisioned under MOU with Black Hat and Informa. The MOU outlines the rules of confidentiality, conduct, standards, and policies that guide the Black Hat review process as well as the expectations and responsibilities required to be on a Black Hat Review Board.
  • Prospective Speakers should not directly contact any Black Hat Review Board member regarding the status of submission(s) or feedback.
• Reviews, acceptances and/or declines are conducted on a rolling basis.
• All correspondence and queries should be sent to cfp@blackhat.com
• Researchers and research teams should be aware of the following guidelines regarding the number of researchers permitted to present.
  • Up to 2 speakers.
• Conference passes are non-transferable.
• Co-workers, PR representatives, etc. must register and pay the appropriate fees to attend the Briefings.
• If the presentation is deemed to be a work of plagiarism or a blatant vendor pitch, Black Hat may revoke the Speaker's honorarium and the Speaker will not be considered for future speaking opportunities.
• Black Hat reserves the right to change scheduled speaking times as necessary. While every effort will be made to honor assigned times, Speakers may be called upon to present at any time during the conference.
• Black Hat reserves the right to rescind an accepted submission without reason.
• Black Hat believes the InfoSec community should be truly open to everyone. As such, Black Hat is committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, or religion. Speakers are required to follow the Black Hat Code of Conduct.

---

Additional Event Information

Please visit blackhat.com for previous conference archives, information, and talks. Updated announcements about Black Hat will be posted to newsgroups, security mailing lists, and the Black Hat website when available.

We reserve the right to change or modify our Terms, dates and/or content of this page at any time without prior notice.

Again, feel free to reach out to cfp@blackhat.com if you have any questions.

We look forward to receiving your submission!

Thank you.
The Black Hat Team

Back to top