Don't just learn your own lessons

Welcome to the new 230 cyber warriors who joined us last week. Each week, we'll be sharing insights from the Black Hat MEA community. Read exclusive interviews with industry experts and key findings from the #BHMEA stages.

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Exclusive interviews and insights from the global Black Hat MEA community – in your inbox every week. 

This week we’re focused on…

How cybersecurity conferences and events (like Black Hat MEA, but not limited to just BHMEA) can enable cybersecurity practitioners to maximise the lessons and knowledge they gain from major security incidents. 

Why? 

Because we spoke to Yassir Abousselham (Founder and CEO at Silicon Valley Cyber) about the global Crowdstrike IT outage. We asked him how events like BHMEA can facilitate the development of greater cyber resilience, and he said:

“Black Hat MEA plays a crucial role in facilitating the exchange of information on organisational resilience. As the largest gathering of cybersecurity professionals in the region, the event serves as a forum where organisations affected by outages can share lessons learned.” 

A place to consolidate lessons learned

Every security incident (whether it’s a cyber attack or an IT outage that puts industries at risk) offers an opportunity for learning. But different cybersecurity practitioners take different lessons from every situation – based on their personal and professional background; the experiences that have shaped their worldview. 

So when those practitioners get together with a focus on sharing knowledge and actively listening to their colleagues, everyone benefits: instead of just learning your lessons, you get to learn other people’s lessons too. 

That’s why cybersecurity events are an engine that drives resilience 

People come to BHMEA to do business. But that business isn’t just about making deals – there’s deeper work that happens around every corner. 

It’s an opportunity for cybersecurity professionals to reflect on the lessons they’ve gathered over the course of a year (or their entire career), and offer that experience and knowledge out to the community – while absorbing the knowledge of others at the same time. 

For government officials and regulators, it’s also a platform for exploring the potential of new policies and shaping the development of regulations that promote consistent, holistic, perhaps even global standards. 

We all depend on tech – so we need to protect it together 

“Both the cybersecurity community and the media reacted with shock at the impact that a single vendor can have across industries,” Abousselham said. “

“This reaction is typical for large-scale events that serve as a sobering reminder of the fragility of our technology-dependent economy.” 

After the shock settled, cybersecurity practitioners began to do what they do so well: reflect on the impact of the situation and what it means for the safety of global technology going forward. Quickly, we began to see an explosion of insights across the digital spaces where cybersecurity folk spend their time. 

Each of them had something different to add to the process of building knowledge and strategy based on the events that took place. And we know that when it comes to Black Hat MEA 2024, conversations on the exhibition floor will cover every angle of the Crowdstrike outage, with lessons shared to boost the resilience of every organisation there. 

It’s true: a global economy that depends on technology and digital supply chains is fragile. Major cybersecurity events offer a route towards safety; not just through selling tools and investing in tech development, but also (or mainly) through facilitating conversations that can only happen when practitioners get together in one place. 

See you at Black Hat MEA 2024.

Read our full interview with Abousselham: What can we learn from the Crowdstrike IT

Do you have an idea for a topic you'd like us to cover? We're eager to hear it! Drop us a message and share your thoughts. Our next newsletter is scheduled for 11 September 2024.

Catch you next week,
Steve Durning
Exhibition Director

Join us at Black Hat MEA 2024 to grow your network, expand your knowledge, and build your business.