Black Hat USA 2015 Wraps Up Record-Breaking Week in Las Vegas

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Hat, the world's leading family of information security events, today highlights some of the special events and initiatives that helped make Black Hat USA 2015 a record-breaking show. In its 18^th year, the event welcomed more than 11,000 of the most security-savvy professionals across the InfoSec spectrum – spanning academia, world-class researchers, and leaders in the public and private sectors. Boasting more than 110 innovative research-based Briefings presented by more than 190 researchers and speakers, as well as 70 in-depth Trainings, attendees of Black Hat USA 2015 experienced the most intensive schedule to date. For more information about the event and to download available whitepapers and presentations, visit: blackhat.com/us-15/.

The Black Hat Review Board, comprised of 24 of the world's foremost security experts, evaluated more submissions this year than ever before – resulting in the most robust schedule in Black Hat history.

Show Highlights

• Keynote Jennifer Granick, Director of Civil Liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society and one of the most respected legal minds in the industry, presented "The Lifecycle of a Revolution." Granick delivered her dynamic presentation about the dying dream of Internet freedom to a packed keynote room, filled with more than 6,000 attendees.
• Black Hat Arsenal returned for its sixth year, offering researchers and the open source community a venue to demonstrate tools they develop and use in their daily professions – from visualization and phishing to collaborative analysis and pentesting. This year's event featured 58 tools, the largest Arsenal event to date.
• Black Hat's "Beyond the Gender Gap: Empowering Women in Security" panel and luncheon featured some of the top women in the security field sharing their paths to success, as well as insight on recruiting, retaining and the professional advancement of women in the security industry.
• Black Hat Business Hall was action-packed, as more than 200 of the industry's top companies showcased their latest technologies and solutions alongside the newly launched International Pavilion and Career Zone, as well as the Innovation City for impressive startups.

Giving Back

Black Hat is driven by the needs of the security community. Giving back and helping to foster the next generation of security professionals is a top priority and we are proud to highlight some of our most recent initiatives: 

• Electronic Frontier Foundation Support: for the second year in a row, Black Hat is proudly donating $50,000 to the EFF to continue supporting their important work in protecting civil liberties within the digital world. Black Hat has a strong partnership with the EFF to provide pro-bono legal consultations to security researchers on the legality of any research or data they plan to present at the annual shows.
• Academic Scholarships: From a combination of speaker nominations and direct applications, Black Hat USA 2015 provided 153 students with complimentary full Briefings passes.
• Future Female Leaders Scholarship Program: brand new this year, Black Hat and the Executive Women's Forum (EWF) teamed up to award 27 full scholarships to female students in the Information Security, IT Risk Management and Privacy industries.
• Youth for Technology Foundation Support: in support of the Youth for Technology Foundation (YTF), this year Black Hat developed an exclusive Black Hat USA 2015 t-shirt for the show with all proceeds being directly donated to help bring technology and education to low-income communities in the U.S. and rural communities in developing nations.

Top sponsors of Black Hat USA 2015 include: Diamond Sponsors: FireEye, Lieberman Software, Qualys, RSA, and Tenable Network Security; Platinum Plus Sponsors: AlienVault, Cisco, Digital Guardian, Fidelis Cybersecurity, HP, Lockheed Martin Corporation, LogRhythm, Palo Alto Networks, Inc., Raytheon | Websense, and Webroot; Platinum Sponsors: Bromium, Core Security Technologies, Fortinet, IBM, Optiv Security, Proofpoint, Inc., Tripwire, and ZeroFOX Inc.

What's Next: Black Hat Europe 2015
Following a blockbuster week in Las Vegas, Black Hat is busy preparing for Black Hat Europe 2015, a four-day event taking place November 10-13, 2015 at the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The event will bring together an international security audience for two days of intense classroom-style Trainings followed by two days of the infamous Black Hat Briefings presented by some of the most renowned experts in the industry. For more information and to register, please visit: blackhat.com/eu-15/.

Future Black Hat Dates and Events

• Black Hat Europe 2015, Amsterdam RAI, Amsterdam, NL, November 10-13, 2015
• Black Hat Executive Summit 2015, Omni Montelucia Resort, Scottsdale, AZ, December 8-10, 2015
• Black Hat Asia 2016, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, March 29 – April 1, 2016
• Black Hat USA 2016, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada, July 30 – August 4, 2016

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: blackhat.com.

About UBM Tech
UBM Tech engages technology professionals live and online through its world-class brands, including Black Hat, InformationWeek, Enterprise Connect, Game Developers Conference (GDC), Dark Reading, HDI, GTEC, Network Computing and Interop. We're dedicated to fostering real engagement by creating environments where the technology industry can make connections, share insights, and network effectively. UBM Tech is the only media company that delivers large-scale industry events, leading online brands and content marketing services serving the Enterprise IT, Information Security, Game Development, Enterprise Communications and Technical Services and Support communities. 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