Black Hat Briefings

Black Hat Briefings
Status	Active
Genre	Security Conference
Frequency	Annual
Venue	Varies
Location(s)	United States, United Kingdom, Singapore
Years active	27
Inaugurated	July 9, 1997 (1997-07-09)
Founder	Jeff Moss
Organised by	Informa Festivals
Website	blackhat.com

Black Hat Briefings (commonly referred to as Black Hat) is a computer security conference that provides security consulting, training, and briefings to hackers, corporations, and government agencies around the world. Black Hat brings together a variety of people interested in information security ranging from non-technical individuals, executives, hackers, and security professionals. The conference takes place regularly in Las Vegas, Barcelona, London and Riyadh but has also been hosted in Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. in the past. ^{[1] [2]}

History

The first Black Hat was held July 7-10, 1997 in Las Vegas, immediately prior to DEF CON 5. ^[3] The conference was aimed at the computer industry, promising to give them privileged insight into the minds and motivations of their hacker adversaries. Its organizers stated: "While many conferences focus on information and network security, only the Black Hat Briefings will put your engineers and software programmers face-to-face with today's cutting edge computer security experts and 'hackers.'" ^[4] It was presented by DEF CON Communications and Cambridge Technology Partners. It was founded by Jeff Moss, who also founded DEF CON, and is currently the Conference Chair of the Black Hat Review Board. ^[5] Black Hat started as a single annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada and is now held in multiple locations around the world. ^[6] Black Hat Briefings was acquired by CMP Media, a subsidiary of U.K.-based United Business Media (UBM) in 2005 ^{[7] [8]} which was then acquired by Informa Tech in June 2018. After a corporate reorganization in 2025, Black Hat Briefings was moved to Informa Festivals division. ^[9]

Components

The conference is composed of three major sections which include briefings, trainings, and arsenal.

Briefings

The Briefings are composed of tracks, covering various topics including reverse engineering, identity and privacy, and hacking. The briefings also contain keynote speeches from leading voices in the information security field, including Robert Lentz, Chief Security Officer, United States Department of Defense; Michael Lynn; Amit Yoran, former Director of the National Cyber Security Division of the Department of Homeland Security; ^{[2] [10]} and General Keith B. Alexander, former Director of the National Security Agency and former commander of the United States Cyber Command. ^[11]

Trainings

Training is offered by various computer security vendors and individual security professionals. The conference has hosted the National Security Agency's information assurance manager course, and various courses by Cisco Systems, Offensive Security, ^[12] and others. ^{[13] [14]}

Arsenal

Arsenal is a portion of the conference dedicated to giving researchers and the open source community a place to showcase their latest open-source information security tools. Arsenal primarily consists of live tool demonstrations in a setting where attendees can ask questions about the tools and sometimes use them. It was added in 2010. ^[15] ToolsWatch maintains an archive of all Black Hat Briefings Arsenals. ^[16]

Notable incidents

Michael Lynn presenting a briefing in 2005

Black Hat had historically been known for the antics of its hacker contingent, and the disclosures brought in its talks. In the past, companies have attempted to ban researchers from disclosing vital information about their products. At Black Hat USA in 2005, Cisco Systems tried to stop Michael Lynn from speaking about a vulnerability that he said could let hackers virtually shut down the Internet. ^[2] However, in recent years, researchers have worked with vendors to resolve issues, and some vendors have challenged hackers to attack their products. ^{[17] [18] [19] [20]}

Conference attendees had been known to hijack wireless connections of the hotels, hack hotel television billing systems, and in one instance, deploy a fake automated teller machine in a hotel lobby. ^[21] In 2009, web sites belonging to a handful of security researchers and groups were hacked and passwords, private e-mails, instant messaging chats, and sensitive documents were exposed on the vandalized site of Dan Kaminsky, days before the conference. During Black Hat USA in 2009, a USB thumb drive that was passed around among attendees was found to be infected with the Conficker virus, and in 2008, three men were expelled for packet sniffing the press room local area network. ^[22]

Venues, dates, and locations

Black Hat had initially started within the United States but expanded over the years across USA, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Washington DC, and Abu Dhabi: ^[23]

Conference Name	Location	Venue	Duration	Year
Black Hat Asia 2024 [24]	Singapore	Marina Bay Sands	April 16 - April 19	2024
Black Hat Spring Trainings 2024 [25]	United States, Washington DC	Walter E Washington Convention Center	March 12 - March 15
Black Hat Europe 2023 [26]	United Kingdom, London	Excel London	December 4 - December 7	2023
Black Hat USA 2023 [27]	United States, Las Vegas, Virtual	Mandalay Bay	August 5 - August 10
Black Hat Asia 2023 [28]	Singapore, Virtual	Marina Bay Sands	May 9 - May 12
Black Hat Spring Trainings 2023 [29]	Virtual	N/A	March 13 - March 16
Black Hat Europe 2022 [30]	United Kingdom, London	Excel London	December 5 - December 8	2022
Black Hat USA 2022 [31]	United States, Las Vegas, Virtual	Mandalay Bay	August 6 - August 11
Black Hat Spring Trainings 2022 [32]	Virtual	N/A	June 13 - June 16
Black Hat Asia 2022 [33]	Singapore, Virtual	Marina Bay Sands	May 10 - May 13
Black Hat Europe 2021 [34]	United Kingdom, London	Excel London	November 8 - November 11	2021
Black Hat USA 2021 [35]	United States, Las Vegas, Virtual	Mandalay Bay	July 31 - August 5
Black Hat Asia 2021 [36]	Virtual	N/A	May 4 - May 7
Black Hat Spring Trainings 2021 [37]	Virtual	N/A	March 15 - March 18
Black Hat Europe 2020 [38]	Virtual	N/A	December 7 - December 10	2020
Black Hat Asia 2020 [39]	Virtual	N/A	September 29 - October 2
Black Hat USA 2020 [40]	Virtual	N/A	August 1 - August 6
Black Hat Europe 2019 [41]	United Kingdom, London	Excel London	December 2 - December 5	2019
Black Hat Trainings 2019 [42]	United States, Alexandria	Hilton Alexandria	October 17 - October 18
Black Hat USA 2019 [43]	United States, Las Vegas	Mandalay Bay	August 3 - August 8
Black Hat Asia 2019 [44]	Singapore	Marina Bay Sands	March 26 - March 29
Black Hat Europe 2018 [45]	United Kingdom, London	Excel London	December 3 - December 6	2018
Black Hat Trainings 2018 [46]	United States, Chicago	Sheraton Grand Chicago	October 22 - October 23
Black Hat USA 2018 [47]	United States, Las Vegas	Mandalay Bay	August 4 - August 9
Black Hat Asia 2018 [48]	Singapore	Marina Bay Sands	March 20 - March 23
Black Hat Europe 2017 [49]	United Kingdom, London	Excel London	December 4 - December 7	2017
Black Hat USA 2017 [50]	United States, Las Vegas	Mandalay Bay	July 22 - July 27
Black Hat Asia 2017 [51]	Singapore	Marina Bay Sands	March 28 - March 31
Black Hat Europe 2016 [52]	United Kingdom, London	Business Design Centre	November 1 - November 4	2016
Black Hat USA 2016 [53]	United States, Las Vegas	Mandalay Bay	July 3 - August 4
Black Hat Asia 2016 [54]	Singapore	Marina Bay Sands	March 29 - April 1
Black Hat Europe 2015 [55]	Netherlands, Amsterdam	Amsterdam RAI	November 10 - November 13	2015
Black Hat USA 2015 [56]	United States, Las Vegas	Mandalay Bay	August 1 - August 6
Black Hat Asia 2015 [57]	Singapore	Marina Bay Sands	March 24 - March 27
Black Hat Trainings 2014 [58]	United States, Potomoc	The Bolger Center	December 8 - December 11	2014
Black Hat Europe 2014 [59]	Netherlands, Amsterdam	Amsterdam RAI	October 14 - October 17
Black Hat USA 2014 [60]	United States, Las Vegas	Mandalay Bay	August 2 - August 7
Black Hat Asia 2014 [61]	Singapore	Marina Bay Sands	March 25 - March 28
Black Hat USA 2013 [62]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 27 - August 1	2013
Black Hat Europe 2013 [63]	Netherlands, Amsterdam	Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky	March 12 - March 15
Black Hat USA 2012 [64]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 21 - July 26	2012
Black Hat Europe 2012 [65]	Netherlands, Amsterdam	Grand Krasnapolsky	March 14 - March 16
Black Hat USA 2011 [66]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 30 - August 2	2011
Black Hat DC 2011 [67]	United States, Crystal City	Hyatt Regency	January 16 - January 19
Black Hat USA 2010 [68]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 24 - July 29	2010
Black Hat DC 2010 [69]	United States, Crystal City	Hyatt Regency	January 31 - February 3
Black Hat USA 2009 [70]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 25 - July 30	2009
Black Hat DC 2009 [71]	United States, Crystal City	Hyatt Regency	February 16 - February 17
Black Hat USA 2008 [72]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	August 2 - August 7	2008
Black Hat DC 2008 [73]	United States, Crystal City	Westin Washington DC City Center	February 18 - February 21
Black Hat USA 2007 [74]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 28 - August 2	2007
Black Hat USA 2006 [75]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 29 - August 3	2006
Black Hat Federal 2006 [76]	United States, Crystal City	Sheraton Crystal City	January 23 - January 26
Black Hat USA 2005 [77]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 23 - July 28	2005
Black Hat USA 2004 [78]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 24 - July 29	2004
Black Hat Federal 2003 [79]	United States, Tysons Corner	Sheraton Premiere	September 29 - October 2	2003
Black Hat USA 2003 [80]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 28 - July 31
Black Hat USA 2002 [81]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 29 - August 1	2002
The Black Hat Briefings '01 [82]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 11 - July 12	2001
The Black Hat Briefings '00 [83]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 26 - July 27	2000
The Black Hat Briefings '99 [84]	United States, Las Vegas	The Venetian	July 7 - July 8	1999
The Black Hat Briefings '98 [85]	United States, Las Vegas	Caesars Palace	July 29 - July 30	1998
The Black Hat Briefings [86]	United States, Las Vegas	Unknown	July 9 - July 10	1997

See also

• DEF CON
• Hacker conference
• Chaos Communication Congress
• Summercon
• Positive Hack Days

References

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• Adi Nae Gamliel (July 31, 2017). "Black Hat 2017: Reflection of $82B innovative industry and security professionals protecting the evolution of digital transformation". LinkedIn .

External links

• Official website