Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

InfoSec conference speakers should give cybersecurity professionals a clear reason to invest their time in attending. The decision to book Formula 1 driver Nico Hülkenberg for InfoSec Europe raises an interesting question about whether celebrity keynote speakers deliver more value than experienced industry practitioners.

Cybersecurity conference costs reach another level when an exhibition stand gets pitched as only £20,000. For cybersecurity vendors considering major industry events, the price raises a rather important question about what they receive in return for the investment.

Cybersecurity conferences lose their value when the same vendor-led conversations keep repeating themselves. Community events such as BSides, Hack Glasgow and SteelCon offer a different model, where sponsors build credibility by supporting the community rather than throwing sales material at attendees.

AI marketing is everywhere in cybersecurity, but adding AI to a product description does not explain what the technology does. Vendors need to move beyond claims such as AI-enabled and AI-powered and have deeper conversations about the technology behind their products.

AI governance is failing to keep pace with AI adoption inside businesses. When 100 people at a technology event were asked whether they used AI, every hand went up, but when asked about AI governance, every hand went down.

Are cybersecurity events still giving people a reason to turn up, or have too many become expensive sales floors with the same conversations on repeat? Welcome to Razorwire, the podcast where we share our take on the world of cybersecurity with direct, practical advice for professionals and business owners alike. I'm Jim and in this episode I'm joined by James Bore, Chartered Security Professional, Gary Hibberd, co-founder of Consultants Like Us and Lisa Ventura, founder of the AI and Cybersecurity Association and Unity Group Solutions.

Cybersecurity events have changed from major industry meeting points into an increasingly crowded mix of vendor pitches, AI hype and expensive commercial conferences. Community events offer an alternative built around stronger conversations, relevant topics and relationships rather than another sales floor.

The OpenAI model that escaped its testing environment and compromised Hugging Face exposed a much bigger cybersecurity problem: are our existing defences actually designed for autonomous AI attacks? In this Razorwire Raw, James Rees looks beyond the original incident at what happens when AI can identify vulnerabilities, exploit them and move through systems at a speed human defenders simply can't match. From AI security and sandboxing to defensive AI and the possible return of honeypots, it may be time to reconsider what defence in depth looks like in the age of AI.

How to get into cybersecurity starts with learning how to think about risk, communicate with different stakeholders and keep learning. The InfoSec community contains experienced practitioners willing to share knowledge, so starting your career does not mean figuring everything out by yourself.

Cybersecurity risk management starts with understanding the risk you are trying to address rather than blindly following a checklist. A risk mindset helps security professionals step beyond policies and procedures and focus on what matters when decisions need to be made.