Regular Registration ends July 19, so make sure to register soon for the chance to save on Black Hat USA 2024 Briefings passes.
Last month, we published a blog post about Black Hat Trainings, but for those who may be new to our events, or even for those who are familiar with our events but would like to learn more about all the components of our programming, we look forward to sharing more about the variety of elements that come together to make Black Hat events the cybersecurity industry's most established and in-depth security event series. In addition to Trainings, another component that goes hand in hand with Black Hat event programming is that of Black Hat Briefings.
Brief background on Briefings:
Black Hat Briefings, or Briefings presentations, were created 27 years ago to provide computer security professionals a place to learn the very latest in information security risks, research, and trends. Presented by the brightest minds in the industry, Briefings cover topics such as critical information infrastructure, widely used enterprise computer systems, the latest cybersecurity research and development, and more. Black Hat Briefings are also vendor-neutral and allow presenters to speak candidly about real problems and potential solutions across both the public and private sectors.
For each event, Briefings are hand selected by the Black Hat Review Board. All Black Hat events, including Black Hat USA, SecTor, Black Hat Europe, and Black Hat Asia, also have their own respective Review Boards, consisting of the cybersecurity industry's leading security professionals and thought leaders. The Review Boards advise Black Hat on both reviewing and programming conference content, as well as provide unparalleled insight into the research community. More on the Black Hat USA Review Board can be found here.
Image features Black Hat Speaker presenting during a Black Hat USA 2023 Briefings presentation.
How are Briefings selected?
The review process behind choosing which Briefings will make the schedule at Black Hat events begins months ahead of each event, kicking off once the Call for Papers (CFP) officially opens. For example, the CFP for Black Hat USA 2024, taking place August 3 to August 8, 2024, was open February 9 to April 10, 2024. The CFP for Black Hat Europe 2024, taking place December 9 to December 12, 2024, will open on June 5 and close on August 5, 2024. Once each CFP opens, the Black Hat Review Board specific to that event begins reviewing and discussing the CFPs as they're received from the cybersecurity community.
Image features Black Hat Speakers presenting during a Black Hat USA 2023 Briefings presentation.
Briefings are chosen based on a variety of factors. Presentations are reviewed for uniqueness, overall content expertise, and accuracy before any selections are made. The best submissions also come with white papers, proof-of-concept code, and/or video demonstrations of the research. Through the course of this dynamic review process, Review Board members will frequently ask researchers for clarity via follow-up questions on their submission(s), such as by requesting additional details on the uniqueness or audacity of any claims that have been made. For example, Sheila Berta, Black Hat USA Review Board member and Head of Research at Dreamlab Technologies, explained that Review Board members may request "clearer explanations about the prerequisites to exploit a vulnerability, the impact, and/or the feedback from the researcher(s) submitting the CFP," along with similar details, as this type of information helps the Review Board "understand the criticality and impact of the research."
As CFPs are received directly from the cybersecurity community, the Briefings tracks, or Briefings themes/topics, present in each submission change between each event cycle. On this topic, Stephanie Domas, Black Hat USA Review Board member and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Canonical, recently shared that "the submissions are always in a state of flux," and "the tracks with the largest number of submissions tend to vary year to year, but also even within a specific track, the trends change, and years often seem to have unintentional themes. For example, in the Mobile track over the past few years, I've seen themes of fuzzers, hardware, infrastructure, and Android."
Image features Black Hat Speaker presenting during a Black Hat USA 2023 Briefings presentation.
Once final selections are made, Speakers are notified and then begin to prepare to present their Briefings during event week. Speakers who will be presenting at upcoming Black Hat events are also provided the opportunity to participate in the Black Hat Speaker Coaching Program, where Review Board members and past Black Hat Speakers assist new Speakers in organizing and presenting their content for the Black Hat audience.
How to view Briefings (In-Person and On-Demand):
While we recommend attending Briefings in-person, we understand that it's not always possible to view all Black Hat Briefings live from the event. For any Briefings you may not be able to attend on-site, make sure to check out On-Demand Access via the official Black Hat Events App, to view video recordings of programs and features, including Briefings, Arsenal, Sponsored Sessions, and more. Black Hat USA 2024 recordings will be available August 16 to September 16, 2024. Please note, On-Demand Access will directly correlate with an attendee's individual pass type.
To view the full list of Black Hat USA 2024 Briefings, please visit https://www.blackhat.com/us-24/briefings/schedule/index.html. Make sure to keep an eye out for the final schedule, which will be available at the end of June 2024.
To register for Black Hat USA 2024, please visit www.blackhat.com/us-24/registration.html.
For upcoming CFP deadlines for Black Hat events, make sure to bookmark the following link for the most up-to-date information: www.blackhat.com/call-for-papers.html.
Sign up HERE to stay up-to-date on future CFP announcements from Black Hat events.
To view Black Hat Briefings from previous years, make sure to subscribe to the official Black Hat YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@BlackHatOfficialYT.