Black Hat USA 2014 Breaks Records with Most Robust Schedule in History

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Black Hat, the world's leading family of information security events, announced the results of the largest and most robust event in the brand's history. This week Black Hat USA welcomed more than 9,000 of the most renowned security experts – from the brightest in academia to world-class researchers and leaders in the public and private sectors. The event featured more content than any previous year, including more than 180 speakers and researchers across 113 cutting edge Briefings, 10 timely roundtable sessions and a full day Kali Linux workshop – the most abounding lineup in the event's history.  For more information including news out of the event and to download available whitepapers and presentations, please visit: https://www.blackhat.com/us-14/.

Content was king in Las Vegas this week as Black Hat celebrated its seventeenth year in a new venue, Mandalay Bay. The distinguished Black Hat Review Board, made up of 23 of the security industry's most respected experts, reviewed more submissions this year than any year prior. In addition to the expansive Briefings schedule, other exciting events onsite broke the record books. Some highlights include:

• The Black Hat Arsenal returned for its fifth year, offering researchers and the open source community the ability to demonstrate live tools they develop and use in their daily professions. Spanning topics from visualization and phishing to collaborative analysis and pentesting, the 2014 Arsenal featured 54 tools – the largest of its kind to date.
• The newly enhanced Black Hat Business Hall, the epicenter of where business happens at the show, this year featured 147 of the industry's top solution providers and start-ups showcasing the latest tools, technologies and services supporting the security community, which is a twelve percent increase from 2013.
• The Black Hat Executive Summit, an exclusive invitation-only gathering of more than 115 industry executives and security industry leaders, ignited open conversations and "think tank" style breakout sessions.

Black Hat USA 2014's keynote was Dan Geer, Chief Information Security Officer at In-Q-Tel, and widely considered one of the security industry's foremost pioneers. In his talk, "Cybersecurity as Realpolitik," Geer examined the use of power in security and outlined a set of ideas and policy recommendations for the future of the industry. After the standing room only session, many attendees commented that this keynote presentation was one of the most impactful they'd seen. To view the full transcript of the keynote as well as any other speaker-provided presentations, visit: https://www.blackhat.com/us-14/archives.html.

Black Hat is driven by the needs of the security community. Continuing this history, Black Hat is pleased to announce that for every Briefings presentation selected for Black Hat USA 2014, two student passes, including full access to Black Hat USA's Briefings free of charge, were given to that session's speakers to distribute to qualified students. Further supporting the academic community – the up-and-comers – Black Hat launched the Student Scholarship Program, awarding 120 scholarships in its inaugural year. Last, but certainly not least, for every Black Hat USA 2014 Business Pass sold, $100 was donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to support their important work defending free speech and privacy rights, with a final total donation of $50,000. 

On the heels of this explosive week, Black Hat is getting ready for Black Hat Europe 2014, where the global security community will come together for two days of intensely technical Trainings plus two days of timely Briefings. Returning for its fifteenth year, Black Hat Europe will welcome security professionals, researchers and leading service providers to the Amsterdam RAI on October 14-17, 2014. For more information and to see the incredible schedule selected thus far, visit: http://www.blackhat.com/eu-14/.

Future Black Hat Dates and Events

• Black Hat Europe 2014, Amsterdam RAI Convention Center, Amsterdam, NL, Oct. 14-17, 2014
• Black Hat Regional Summit, Transamerica Expo Center, Sao Paulo, Brazil, November 25-26, 2014
• Black Hat Trainings, Bolger Center, Potomac, MD, December 8-11, 2014
• Black Hat Asia 2015, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, March 24-27, 2015
• Black Hat USA 2015, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada, August 1-6, 2015

About Black Hat

For more than 17 years, Black Hat has provided attendees with the very latest in information security research, development, and trends. These high-profile global events and trainings are driven by the needs of the security community, striving to bring together the best minds in the industry. Black Hat inspires professionals at all career levels, encouraging growth and collaboration among academia, world-class researchers, and leaders in the public and private sectors. Black Hat Briefings and Trainings are held annually in the United States, Europe and Asia, and are produced by UBM Tech. More information is available at: http://www.blackhat.com. 

About UBM Tech

UBM Tech is a global media business that brings together the world's technology communities through live events, online properties and custom services. UBM Tech's community-focused approach provides its users and clients with expertly curated research, education, training, community advocacy, user-generated content and peer-to-peer engagement opportunities that serve the Electronics, Security, Enterprise IT and Communications, Network Infrastructure and Applications, Game and App Developers, and Tech Marketing communities. UBM Tech's brands include Black Hat, DesignCon, EE Times, Enterprise Connect, Game Developers Conference (GDC), HDI, InformationWeek, and Interop. Create, a UBM Tech full range marketing services division, includes custom events, content marketing solutions, community development and demand generation programs based on its content and technology market expertise. UBM Tech is a part of UBM (UBM.L), a global provider of media and information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion. For more information, go to http://tech.ubm.com.

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SOURCE Black Hat