Since joining Forward Networks, I have attended my fair share of conferences. As I sat here checking conferences off the list I wanted to go to, I noticed one I never thought I would get to attend. Mainly because what I thought about it was the focus was deep security. Although I have never been the kind not to want to go and possibly learn something new, the odds of a network guy going to a security-focused conference seemed farfetched to me. That conference is BlackHat. Let’s see Blackhat 2024, through the eyes of a network architect.
With my background in networking, I never thought I would attend a security-focused conference. Now, being on the vendor side, where our product crosses into the security space, I am excited to get to go and experience some of these conferences that I would never have. Many things surprised me about the conference, and we will explore those through the eyes of someone who was once a network architect and is now a technical product marketing guy.
It’s how big?
You often forget how large some of them are when going to conferences. Or, in this case, you think it is much smaller than what it turned out to be. I was talking with a co-worker before heading out. Since my company has done BlackHat in the past, I was wondering just how big it is. I was not prepared for what I was about to hear. Last year, they had over 20,000 attendees. My mind was blown. Compare this to Cisco Live 2023 and 2024, which had the same amount of attendees. I was floored by the number of people who went.
When I saw the floor plan, it further solidified just how big this conference is. Below is a copy of the floor plan from this year’s BlackHat and man, was it HUGE! The one thing I found super helpful is that each row has its row number in the air. So think about walking around the island of Manhattan. It would be easy to do if you had to find 425 W55th Street. Similarly, if you had to find Forward Networks at booth 3017, find row 3000. It is just that easy
But are there “hackers” there
I can not deny or confirm that I may have talked to a few hackers. I was mildly shocked by a few people that I did speak to. A few walked up to me with their entire face and eyes covered. Think of what you would think a hacker would look like, and boom, one right in the flesh in front of me. {{ hacker image-whatsapp }} Was he one? Did he already have my credit card numbers from my RFID-blocking wallet? Did he already know my deepest and darkest secrets? I have no idea, and I was not about to ask him.
There was someone dressed up like a cow, another like Captain Jack Sparrow, and all I saw was the same worker’s wheels spinning for what she could get me to agree to for the next one. You will be happy to know, or at least I hope happy to know, that all account numbers are still safe. Unless they are waiting….
Wait, there are networking people, too?
There was a unique theme as I looked at the badges of the people I was talking to. Besides funny titles like “Organizer of Chaos,” I wondered whether we had worked together. The most common job title I saw was {{ something }} analyst or Cyber {{ something }}. I did, however, run into a few people who did have Network somewhere in their title. Could they have been cosplaying as one, maybe? Deep down inside, every security guy wants to be a networking guy, so I can give them this one pass at a security-focused conference.
Our Booth
I saved what I think is the best for last. I mean, aside from the great Wednesday night at the Craps table. Thanks, Mike, John, and John! Being on the marketing team, I often get a sneak peek into the booth theme for specific events. When I saw that this was going to be a hacker theme, yes, the best, most accurate depiction of a technology movie ever, I was stoked. The nostalgia was there, and people were drawn in by that alone. For example, our business cards were 3.5″ disks, and we had 5 1/4″ disks hanging on the wall. We had two iMac G3s from 1999 there. It was almost like I was transported into teenage Mike’s room, and all I needed was a case of Bawlz energy drink or some Jolt cola!
Overall, I was pretty surprised by a few things: first, just how significant this conference was, and second, the number of non-security people there. You generally don’t think that networking people would want to attend a security conference, but a few proved me wrong. Were you at Blackhat this year? Did you stop past our hacker den? Let me know in the comments below on my socials!