Merlin Announces Inaugural CyberWatch 2026: Race to Resilience

Public sector cybersecurity teams will gather October 28 in Crystal City, Va., for a hands-on Capture the Flag competition and executive Tabletop Exercise

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Merlin today announced CyberWatch 2026: Race to Resilience, a hands-on, immersive Capture the Flag (CTF) and Tabletop Exercise (TTX) event experience for public sector security teams. The event will take place Wednesday, October 28, 2026, from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. at The Concorde in Crystal City, Va.

Merlin, a trusted technology solutions provider to federal agencies, is bringing together practitioners, executives, and technology partners for a full day built around one idea: the government's race to cyber resilience. Attendees will sharpen technical skills, stress-test executive decision-making, and walk away with insights aligned to their agency's unique mission requirements.

Federal cybersecurity teams are contending with an expanding set of mandates and directives, from Zero Trust implementation to the accelerating 2030 deadline for post-quantum cryptography migration, often with more priorities than resources to address them. CyberWatch 2026 is designed to meet that reality with hands-on experience, giving attendees new skills, expert insight, and practical next steps they can bring back to their team.

The event is structured across three tracks, letting attendees engage at the level that fits them:

Practitioner Track — A CTF competition calibrated for hands-on technical participants, competing solo or in teams of two. Under real-time pressure, teams will secure a live environment, protect critical assets, and get ahead of cloud, data, and cryptographic risk using industry-leading technology to capture each digital flag. Seats are limited.

Executive Track — An interactive Tabletop Exercise and moderated roundtable discussions built for CISOs, CIOs, and executive leaders, featuring perspectives from federal, state and local government (SLED), and industry voices shaping the future of cyber resilience.

General Audience Track — For attendees who want the experience without a hands-on technical component: the keynote lunch, roundtable discussions, partner exhibits showcasing the latest innovations, and networking at their own pace throughout the day.

"Federal leaders today are managing evolving mandates, faster-moving threats, and constant pressure to modernize without missing a step," said Matt Hartman, Chief Strategy Officer at Merlin. "Our Executive Track pairs a live tabletop exercise with roundtable discussions across federal, SLED, and industry perspectives, giving CISOs and agency leaders a chance to pressure-test their own decision-making and walk away with fresh insight into how their peers are tackling the same challenges."

Delivered alongside industry-leading technology partners, the day's missions run inside Merlin Labs' live environment, using the same integrated, validated approach Merlin brings to its federal customers every day.

"Every mission in this year's CTF reflects how our Labs team actually builds solutions for our federal customers. We don't hand agencies a stack of point products and wish them luck integrating it all," said Miguel Sian, Chief Technology Officer at Merlin, who leads the company's Labs team. "We validate how these technologies work together against real mission scenarios first, so what participants experience at CyberWatch is the same battle-tested approach we bring to the field every day."

Schedule at a glance:

• 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. — Registration, Welcome Lunch, Keynote
• 12 – 4 p.m. — Technical Sessions & Breakouts
• 4 – 5 p.m. — Closing Keynote & Award Ceremony
• 5 – 7 p.m. — Networking Reception

Registration is open now. The full agenda, keynote speakers, and special guests will be announced in the coming weeks at https://www.merlincyber.com/cyberwatch-2026.

About Merlin
For nearly 30 years, Merlin has accelerated pathways for leading technology providers into mission-critical public sector markets. Combining deep government expertise with technical validation, compliance acceleration, and market access, Merlin transforms promising technologies into mission-ready solutions that help government agencies identify and address their most critical security challenges. Learn more at www.merlincyber.com.

Media Contact:
Abby O'Malley
Director of Communications, Merlin
[email protected]

SOURCE Merlin Group