Saudi Arabia will make a bold entry onto the global tech stage later this year with aground-breaking, mega cybersecurity event that will bring together the worlds best hackers and trainers in the Kingdom.
The Saudi Federation of Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP), which has masterminded some of the Kingdom’s most innovative high-tech bootcamps and events, and Informa Tech, organisers of the world’s most renowned cybersecurity networking event series Black Hat, are bringing their global experience and industry know-how to life through @Hack – set to take place at the Riyadh FrontExpo Centre from November 28-30, 2021 in a partnership with the national telecoms operator STC.
The event is being held in support of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and SAFCSP’s mission to make one in every 100 Saudi citizens a programmer and to elevate the Kingdom’s status in the tech domain.
Thousands of attendees will benefit from in-depth, hands-on technical courses on topicsranging from broader offensive security to the latest techniques in penetrationtesting, infrastructure hacking, mobile application security, analysingautomotive electrical systems and everything in between.
In order to deliver this, @Hack is the official Middle East facilitator anddistributor for Offensive Security, a leading cybersecurity training partnerfor major organisations including the US Armed Forces, Microsoft, Amazon andIBM. Defining the standard of excellence in penetration testing, their elitesecurity instructors will be among the 50 Black Hat approved trainers to run a powerful training series in the run-up to the event, taking place from November23-27. A first for the Middle East region, the series will form a world-classhacking school delivering advanced tutorials for all levels of hackers over aseries of 20 courses. Other supporting partners include NotSoSecure, OrangeCyberdefense and We45.
“We are working diligently to showcase our tech capabilities on the global stageand this collaboration with Informa Tech will deliver one of the world’slargest and most forward-thinking cybersecurity events, right here, in the Kingdomof Saudi Arabia,” commented SAFCSP Chairman, Faisal Al Khamisi.
“Cybersecurity is one of the fastest growing markets in Saudi Arabia and @Hack will create asocial movement unleashing our boundless potential and ambitions, helping toinspire a technological golden era.”
@Hack will also provide business opportunities in one of the world’s largest cyberbusiness halls with over 250 cutting-edge brands, including 40 breakthroughstart-ups, housed in its ‘Innovation City’. More than 250 of the globe’sleading infosec experts and hackers will present game-changing research,address new vulnerabilities, open-source tools and zero-day exploits.
“We’re excited to be a part of this amazing new launch @Hack – in association with the world famous Black Hat. Having seen the plans for this event, we are proud that Saudi Arabia will host a cyber security event of genuine international importance,” said Yasser Alswailem, VP of Cybersecurity for STC.
The three-day cybersecurity agenda-setting event will also feature an Executive Summit that will bring together Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) from the world’s most complex and critical organisations to address the Middle East’s cyber security needs including security guru and cyber security author Bruce Schneier.
The industry’s greatest minds will be in attendance, including the former US marineand ethical hacker Bryan Seeley, who is the only person to wiretap the USSecurity Service and FBI; Hector Monsegur, one of the masterminds behind theinfamous Anonymous hacking group; Chris Tarbell, the FBI agent who caught BlackHat Hacker Monsegur, Jaya Baloo, Chief Information Security Officer of Avast andVice Chair of the Quantum Flagship Billion Dollar Project, and OliveraZatezalo, CSO, Huawei Canada, named Canada’s top 20 Women in cybersecurity.
Elsewhere, @Hack will put 17 industry sectors in the spotlight, including appliedsecurity; cryptography; data forensics; incident response; IoT; malware;network defence; platform security; mobility; policy; reverse engineering;webapp security as well as smart grid and industrial security. An @Hack Arsenalwill see the latest open source hacking tools presented daily by 20 world-wideprogramming geniuses who will lay bare data security vulnerabilities incommonly used software and platforms via live hacking demonstrations ofeveryday workplace and home devices.
“Throughout my career, I’ve never had the pleasure to partner on an event with so muchambition and funding in place to ensure it will be a global leader in its firstedition. The scale and plan for @Hack is enormous and shows just how seriousSaudi Arabia is in becoming a global tech hub with an events sector thatattracts business tourists from all over the world,” said Annabelle Mander,Portfolio Director, Informa Tech.
The premiere edition of @Hack is being organised with support from SAFCSP andstrategic sponsor SPIRE Solutions, an industry-leading information and cybersecurity solutions provider in the MENA region.
“When you put Saudi Arabia and Black Hat together the result can only be phenomenal, the region has been waiting for a security event like this for years and we are delighted to be one of the first strategic partners,” said Sanjeev Walia, CEO for SPIRE Solutions.
