Mission Statement

BSidesLV is a non-profit organization designed to advance the body of Information Security knowledge, by providing an annual, two day, open forum for discussion and debate for security engineers and their affiliates. We produce a conference that is a source of education, collaboration, and continued conversation for information technologists and those associated with this field. The technical and academic presentations at BSidesLV are given in the spirit of peer review and advanced knowledge dissemination. This allows the field of Information Security to grow in breadth and depth, and continue in its pursuit of highly advanced scientifically based knowledge.

BSIDES LAS VEGAS ISN’T ANOTHER “TALK AT YOU” CONFERENCE. EVERYONE AT BSIDES IS A PARTICIPANT.

TRACK AFTER TRACK, YEAR AFTER YEAR, THE SECURITY RESEARCHERS, ENGINEERS, ANALYSTS AND MANAGERS THAT PRESENT AT BSIDESLV ARE LOOKING TO ENGAGE OUR PARTICIPANTS AND BE ENGAGED BY THEM. THEY WANT YOUR FEEDBACK, INSIGHTS, OPINIONS AND QUESTIONS ON THE LATEST INFOSEC TOPICS AND DISCUSSIONS OF THE NEXT BIG THING.

OUR SPEAKERS DON’T TALK AT YOU, THEY CONVERSE WITH YOU.

COME JOIN THE CONVERSATION!

EVENTS INCLUDE:

• Proving Ground – Mentorship and Scholarship track for first time national speakers. Get paired with a great mentor, who will help you with your presentation from CFP to podium AND receive up to $500 to help offset the costs of traveling to Vegas to present. More specific information below.

• Breaking Ground – Ground Breaking Information Security research and conversations on the “Next Big Thing”. Interactively discussing your research with our participants and getting feedback, input and opinion. No preaching from the podium at a passive audience.

• Common Ground – Other topics of interest to the security community. e.g., Lock-picking, hardware hacking, mental health/burnout, Law, Privacy, Regulations, Risk, Crypto, Activism, etc. Again, interactive discussions with your peers and fellow researchers. Not passive lectures “at” an audience.

• Underground – OTR talks on subjects best discussed AFK. No press, no recording, no streaming, no names. Just you and your peers, discussing what matters, behind closed doors. Think about it.

• Ground Truth –  Focused on innovative computer science and mathematics applied to security. Topics of interest include machine learning, natural language processing, Big Data technologies, cryptography, compression, data structures, zero knowledge proofs or just about anything academically publishable that usually baffles review committees for other conferences.

• I Am The Cavalry –  Security that affects public safety and human life. Where our domain overlaps others, we must gather teammates and forge an alliance. Technical discussions cover medical devices, cars, and other connected technologies with a higher consequence of failure. Non-technical talks cover issues where security overlaps with the human condition, and building skills to influence change outside the echo chamber. See I Am The Cavalry or @iamthecavalry for more information.

• PasswordsLV – Focused on the (in)security of passwords and other authentication solutions, bringing together security researchers, password crackers, and experts in password security from around the globe in order to better understand and address the challenges surrounding digital authentication. This track explores all facets of authentication security, from analysis and education to creating, securing, cracking, and exploiting authentication solutions. See passwordscon for more information.

• Training Ground –  consists of workshops and classes to give your students hands-on experience learning the latest and greatest. We accept proposals for 1/2 day, full-day and 2-day workshops.

• 2-day “Hire Ground” Career Track: Mock Interviews, Open Resume Review, Recruiter Bingo

• Joes vs Pros CTF, sponsored by Maven Security and Wilmington University

• Lock Pick Village

• Tuesday night Speaker, Sponsor, Donor Thank You Reception

• Water balloon fight to benefit Hakz4Kids

• Hacker Pyramid

• Wednesday night pool party sponsored by #STAGEFRIGHT #BBMFTW (Bug-Bounty Money For The Win!)

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Photo/Video/Recording Device Policy

Ensure you have the permission from anyone you photograph or record. This includes those in the background of your shot. “Crowd shots” from the front (facing the crowd) are strongly discouraged. No photo/video/audio recording in the Underground Track, period.

If you’ve accidentally taken a picture without permission, delete it. If you are asked by a participant to delete/blur a picture they did not give you permission to take, do so immediately.

We ask Press photographers to adhere to this policy, as well. A Press badge is not a pass to break these rules.

Upon a first infraction, you will receive one warning from BSidesLV Staff. Upon a second infraction you will be asked to give up your device to BSidesLV Safety & Security for the duration of the Con or to leave the Con with your device, your choice. You may return to the Con once you have deposited your device in a secure location, offsite.

There are two official BSidesLV Photographers. Both will have professional cameras and Staff badges. They are aware of this policy and are not immune, except in cases where they have been requested to document activities, official parties, presentations, etc., for BSidesLV PR purposes. If you believe that either of the official BSidesLV photographers are breaking these rules, or abusing their privilege, please bring it to the attention of BSidesLV Safety & Security or any BSidesLV Staff member.

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO PRESS, VIDEO OR AUDIO RECORDING, OR PHOTOS ALLOWED IN “UNDERGROUND”

Thank you for your cooperation!

Code of Conduct

We have NO TOLERANCE for physical/verbal/sexual harassment of any human!

Our “Code of Conduct” is “Be Excellent to Each Other” AKA the Golden Rule.
Failing that, it is “Do not be an Ass* or we will kick your ass out!”. 

Asking questions of a speaker during their talk, to get clarity or debate a point is NOT being an ass – heckling or haranguing the speaker IS. If you are not sure, ask, or err on the side of basic decency and common courtesy. If what they are doing would not be acceptable to have done to you, your best friend, your worst enemy, your sister, niece, daughter, brother, nephew, son, mother, father, or any human being, do not let them treat anyone else that way – whether you know them or not. If someone asks you to stop – stop.

If you are having an issue with a BSidesLV participant of ANY badge type, find a radioed member of our Safety & Security Team in the red BSidesLV t-shirts (or any staff member, in purple shirts). They will call our Safety & Medical Response Team (S.M.R.T), who will assist you in determining the next steps for you to feel safe and heard.

*Staff reserves the right to determine what constitutes “Being an Ass”.

We can’t wait to see you in Vegas, Baby!