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SCHEDULE

You can also find the schedule on the Hacker Tracker app!

 

Speaker and talk overview appear below the schedule (in order by first name).

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Talk abstracts appear below the schedule.

7:30AM   Doors Open

8:45AM   Opening Remarks

9:00AM   Keynote: Dr. Gerald Auger, SimplyCyber

9:45AM   Break

10:00AM   Track 1 ("Main Building - Cafeteria")

Modern Deception Tactics: How Threat Actors Are Evolving Social Engineering

​Gabriel Schram

Track 2 ("Fluor University")

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Pentest Pains

Chris Traynor

Track 3 ("Main Building - Downstairs)

Quantum Leap or Quantum Leak? The Coming Revolution in Cybersecurity

Nathan Leemkuil 

10:45AM   Break

11:00AM   Track 1 ("Main Building - Cafeteria")

Ransomware 101 - How to Lose Your Credentials and Gain a New Domain Admin

Chris Horner

Track 2 ("Fluor University")

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Web Application Authorization: Taming the Perfect Storm

Tim Tomes

Track 3 ("Main Building - Downstairs")

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Hunting Threats in the Wild: Dark Web to Deep Fakes

Jonathan Martz

11:30AM   Lunch

12:30PM   Keynote: Jennifer "J.J." Minella

1:15PM   Break

1:30PM   Track 1 ("Main Building - Cafeteria")

Defending OT/ICS Doesn't Have to Be Hard

Mike Holcomb

Track 2 ("Fluor University")

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Forged in Fire: Building Elite Cybersecurity Teams with a Warrior’s Mindset

Chris Reider

Track 3 ("Downstairs")

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CyberRISE

Adam Anderson

2:00PM   Break

2:15PM   Track 1 ("Main Building")

Black Box, Red Flags: Uncovering Hidden Risks in AI Systems

Markel Samuelson

Track 2 ("Fluor University")

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Global Cyber Siege: Ransomware Collapse, Cl0p's Comeback, and 2025's Power Shift

Steve Thomas

2:45PM   Break

3:00PM   Track 1 ("Main Building")

Would You Lke to Play a Game? Generative AI in Cybersecurity

Samyuktha Anand

Track 2 ("Fluor University")

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Report Writing: Intelligence Analysis Techniques for Impactful

Austin Morphies

3:30PM   Break

3:45PM   Track 1 ("Main Building")

Hacking on Autopilot: The Rise of AI in Offensive Security

Miguel Martinez

Track 2 ("Fluor University")

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Security Hitchhiker's Guide to Threat Modeling

Timothy De Block

4:15PM   Break

4:30PM   Track 1 ("Main Building")

Why Your Tabletop Exercises Suck & How To Fix Them

Brian Kirk

 Track 2 ("Fluor University")

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How to Talk More Goodlier

Aqeel Yaseen

5:30PM   After Party sponsored by Tec-Refresh

TALK ABSTRACTS

Aaron Hoffman - Beyond Playbooks: Reimagining SOAR in the age of GenAI

Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) promised to revolutionize security operations. However, as generative AI tools enter the mainstream, the landscape is shifting again. What role does SOAR play in an age where large language models can triage alerts, summarize reports, and even build playbooks on demand? This session explores how generative AI is reshaping the promise and practice of SOAR. Attendees will gain a clear understanding of where SOAR fits in the AI-augmented SOC, along with practical strategies for integrating GenAI into existing automation workflows without sacrificing control, security, or clarity.

Aqeel Yaseen - How to Talk More Goodlier

 This talk is a short introduction to communication skills inspired by years of study and practice of various practices within conflict resolution. The talk will draw from Dr. Marshall Rosenberg's Non-Violent Communication Book, as well as experiences with setting containers for mindfulness based youth retreats through Inward Bound Mindfulness (https://inwardboundmind.org), as well as personal experiences within the context of working in Offensive Security, and as a person. The talk will cover basic guidelines to having a productive and healthy conversation or conflict, to cognitive biases that make communication challenging, and some references to help people get started. There will also be some short stories to illustrate how these techniques have changed personal and professional dynamics to show the real world implications. 

Austin Morphies - Report Writing: Intelligence Analysis Techniques for Impactful Communication

Reports are often the only deliverable customers and executives see from security teams, yet many professionals receive little training on how to create clear, compelling, and actionable reports. This presentation aims to bridge the gap by applying techniques used in intelligence analysis to elevate report production. Drawing from intelligence community methodologies, we'll explore how to transform technical findings into structured narratives that drive decision-making. Attendees will learn practical techniques for organizing complex information, conveying risk effectively, creating visualizations that illuminate rather than obscure, and tailoring communications for different audiences. 

Chris Horner - Ransomware 101 - How to Lose Your Credentials and Gain a New Domain Admin

This will give an overview of how ransomware operators work, take a look under the hood of the dark web, and give a walkthrough of a real life pentest kill chain where credentials obtained from the dark web led to external compromise and escalation to domain admin.

Chris Reider - Forged in Fire: Building Elite Cybersecurity Teams with a Warrior’s Mindset

In 2020, I found myself at a robotics startup in Silicon Valley, building an Information Security program from scratch. No team, no tools, no roadmap — just a mandate to get us FedRAMP Moderate compliant while supporting the building of a highly complex robot. As I dove in, I realized I was drawing heavily from a different life — one built on leadership forged in pressure.  I spent my early career in the U.S. Marine Corps, supporting a Special Operations training detachment as a true “keyboard warrior.” That was followed by nine years in law enforcement, eight of which were with a Special Operations team as both an operator and a leader. I didn’t grow up obsessed with tech, but I always used it as a critical tool — from red teaming and security audits to building field tech and tracking child predators online.  Along the way, I saw firsthand how ineffective leadership could derail progress. Too often, IT leaders resisted change, innovation, or simply failed at leading from the front. I promised myself I’d be different.  In this talk, I’ll share the leadership principles that have shaped my teams and my career:  • Leading with Purpose, Not Process  • Building Trust and Grit  • Thinking Tactically, Acting Strategically  • Leading from the Front  • Becoming a Leadable Leader  Through real-world stories — some wild, some hilarious — I’ll deliver lessons attendees can apply immediately to become stronger, more adaptive leaders in InfoSec and beyond.

Chris Traynor - Pentest Pains

Pentesting is meant to uncover security weaknesses, but sometimes the process itself becomes an exercise in frustration. From unclear scopes and unresponsive clients to network misconfigurations and unexpected legal roadblocks, every pentester has war stories of engagements gone wrong. This talk dives into real-world pentesting pain points, sharing firsthand experiences of what makes assessments more difficult than they need to be—and how to avoid these pitfalls.  Whether you’re a seasoned pentester, a blue teamer trying to prepare for a test, or a purple teamer bridging the gap, understanding these challenges can help ensure your next engagement is smoother and more effective. We’ll cover the most common mistakes from all sides of the table, such as poor scoping, lack of communication, ineffective remediation, and unrealistic expectations.  Beyond just the horror stories, this session provides actionable lessons to help security teams and consultants work together more efficiently. Learn how to avoid common traps, improve collaboration, and turn painful experiences into opportunities for a more productive outcome.

Gabriel Schram - Modern Deception Tactics: How Threat Actors Are Evolving Social Engineering

In short, this talk proposal is informed by my background as a SOC analyst and now a threat intelligence and adversary emulation lead for MorganFranklin Cyber. I plan to talk about the evolution of social engineering as it relates to cybersecurity within the last 6-8 months. The core of this talk will be based on real attack scenarios that I have investigated, and since then deeply researched. This includes the use of fake Microsoft login pages, email bombing, phishing-as-a-service, and an emphasis on clickfixing; I view this as an exploitation of a user's ability to self-troubleshoot. As supporting evidence, I plan to discuss how gen AI is making an impact on these attacks, and how to properly engineer detections for post-exploit activity.  

Markel Samuel - Black Box, Red Flags: Uncovering Hidden Risks in AI Systems

This session explores the hidden compliance, security, and ethical risks embedded in artificial intelligence systems, particularly those using opaque or “black box” models. As AI adoption accelerates, organizations must recognize how poor governance, biased training data, and unmonitored decision-making can lead to regulatory violations and reputational damage. This session offers actionable insights into demystifying AI systems, improving transparency, and aligning with evolving frameworks like the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.

Michael Holcomb - A Practical Approach to Defending OT/ICS

Attacks target critical infrastructure such as power plants, water treatment facilities and transportation continue to increase.  And at the same time, most of these OT/ICS environments are left with little defenses as of 2025.  But don't despair - even the most complex OT environment can be protected against the most advanced advesaries but mastering the OT/ICS cybersecurity fundamentals.  We'll cover real world examples of OT/ICS attacks and how to protect against them in a simple, practical manner.

Miquel Martinez - Hacking on Autopilot: The Rise of AI in Offensive Security

This presentation examines the transformative role of artificial intelligence in offensive security, demonstrating how modern large language models (LLMs) can automate end-to-end penetration testing. Through a real-world case study, we highlight a step-by-step methodology in which publicly available AI systems conduct reconnaissance, generate commands, and create custom scripts and payloads—replacing traditionally manual processes with a dynamic, AI-driven attack framework.
 

ur findings illustrate how conversational AI significantly lowers the technical barriers to compromising complex enterprise environments. Even individuals with limited expertise can now leverage AI to enumerate Active Directory vulnerabilities, exploit misconfigurations, and execute lateral movement, underscoring the democratization of advanced cybercrime. The discussion extends to the broader implications of this trend, including privacy risks associated with AI-assisted data exfiltration, as well as the potential for accelerating exploit development, reverse-engineering security patches, and generating evasive malware.

Samyuktha Anand - Would You Like to Play a Game?

Generative AI in Cybersecurity: Understanding the Role of AI in Modern Cyber Defense and Ethical Considerations 

Steve Thomas - Global Cyber Siege: Ransomware Collapse, Cl0p's Comeback, and 2025's Power Shift

In 2024, nearly 40 percent of ransomware gangs disappeared, signaling one of the most dramatic periods of churn in the threat landscape. But just as the ecosystem seemed to quiet, 2025 delivered a surprise: Cl0p has returned with force. After a quiet 2024 with only 26 victims, Cl0p has already claimed 467 in the first quarter of 2025 alone. This session explores the collapse of major gangs, the shifting dynamics of ransomware operations, and what Cl0p’s resurgence means for defenders going forward.

Tim Tomes - Web Application Authorization: Taming the Perfect Storm

My last 40 web application security assessments have resulted in 41 findings that relate to access control vulnerabilities. That means, on average, every application I test has at least one access control vulnerability. It's no surprise then that Broken Access Control is #1 on OWASP's list of top 10 web application security risks. But what makes access control systems so problematic?  To put it plainly, access control systems are hard; hard to design, hard to implement, hard to maintain, and hard to test. This combination creates a perfect storm for privilege escalation in web applications. But only those that understand these systems and how to evaluate them can use the storm to their advantage.  In this talk, I aim to equip you with the ability to tame the perfect storm. I'll start by addressing the pitfalls around access control systems in web applications of varying design architectures. I'll then demonstrate the tools and techniques that I use to uncover issues in these systems. Finally, I'll provide some insight into remediating access control issues, and how development teams can automate access control testing as part of a CI/CD pipeline... something that is largely considered to be impossible.

Timothy De Block - Security Hitchhiker's Guide to Threat Modeling

Threat modeling is a critical process that helps organizations identify and mitigate potential security threats in the early stages of projects or when a legacy application is discovered with little to no documentation. This presentation aims to serve as a comprehensive introduction to the wonderful galaxy of Threat Modeling.  We will explore the fundamental questions: What is threat modeling? Why is it crucial for cybersecurity? How can it be integrated into your development and IT processes effectively? Why do I feel like I'm in preschool again?  This presentation will provide you with a structured approach to threat modeling, demystifying the process and breaking it down into manageable steps. We will discuss various methodologies and tools available for threat modeling.  Grab your towel and join us for "The Security Hitchhiker's Guide to Threat Modeling." Leave with a clear understanding of how to embark on your threat modeling journey.  

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