SecTor, Canada’s largest cybersecurity conference, today announced the successful completion of the in-person component of SecTor 2023. As one of the global events produced by Black Hat, the cybersecurity industry’s most established and in-depth security event series, SecTor provides attendees with the very latest in information security research, development, and trends. SecTor 2023 welcomed more than 4,100 unique attendees joining in-person from October 23 to October 26 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Security professionals registered to attend the event and experience firsthand the latest in research, development, and trends in information security (InfoSec) through 42 Briefings presenting the latest research and vulnerability disclosures, two days of deeply technical hands-on Trainings, 45 Sponsored Sessions, and Black Hat Arsenal, which debuted for the first time at SecTor with 33 tool demos.
Show highlights for 2023 included:
- Keynotes: The two Keynotes this year included Dr. Michael Geist, law professor at the University of Ottawa, and Laura Payne, Chief Enablement Officer and VP Security Consulting at cybersecurity firm White Tuque.
- Business Hall: This year’s Business Hall welcomed more than 150 of the industry’s leading information security solution providers, showcasing their latest products and technologies to attendees. The Business Hall also featured areas for attendee, vendor, and community engagement through Arsenal, Sponsored Sessions, the Community Program, and more.
- Arsenal: For the first time at SecTor, the Black Hat Arsenal debuted with 33 in-person tool demos spanning malware defense, exploitation and ethical hacking, vulnerability assessment, and more. Arsenal brings together researchers and the cybersecurity community to showcase and demonstrate their latest open-source tools and products in a conversational environment where presenters can interact with the attendees. SecTor 2023 also featured five labs at the on-site Arsenal Lab, an interactive, hands-on environment designed for hacking enthusiasts of all skill levels to learn about specialized tools and targets that may be difficult to access otherwise.
- Career Panel and Career Fair: The Career Panel and Career Fair provided attendees the opportunity to hear directly from SecTor’s panel of thought leaders in public, private, and government sectors as they shared their experiences within the cybersecurity industry and beyond. Following the interactive panel, attendees were then able to speak one-on-one with hiring managers from some of the world’s leading security organizations.
- Community Program: The Community Program included meet-ups encouraging collaboration among attendees and presenters through discussions of current issues impacting the cybersecurity community. Topics included diversity, inclusion, stress, mental health, and more.
- Scholarships: As a way to introduce the next generation of security professionals to the SecTor community, SecTor awarded a total of 21 complimentary SecTor 2023 Briefings passes. Black Hat holds its own annual Student and Veteran Scholarship programs, and partners with a variety of associations on additional scholarship opportunities.
- Sustainability Initiatives: In July 2023, Black Hat announced its Sustainability Pledge to outline key initiatives Black Hat will be prioritizing across all of its events, including SecTor. As part of these initiatives, Black Hat made the decision to no longer incorporate aisle floor carpet within the design of the Business Hall floor, which diverted approximately 3,400 square meters of carpet from being sent to the landfill after the close of SecTor 2023.
For more information on Black Hat events, including SecTor, please visit https://www.blackhat.com.
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