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Category: ANYCon

I took the opportunity to attend the first ever ANYCon at the Albany Capital Center here in Albany NY. Being this was the first year attempt at bringing a "Con" to Albany, it was a great event.  Surprisingly for a first year event, there was a lot of talks and activities and well attended by various people.  A rough estimate by myself would say there were approx. 400 people who attended.

In my honest opinion, a Hacker/Cyber Security "Con" was well overdue to happen in Albany.  There are other events that are related to Cyber Security, but not one dedicated to the Dark Arts of Computing.  Probably the closest event of this type would be BSIDES ROC or BsidesBoston so having a Con here in Albany is very much welcomed.

Hats off to Tyler Wrightson and his team for putting together a really great event.  Also I would be remiss to thank various people who I have met and have enjoyed their talks these being Mario DiNatale, Thomas Richards, Tim O'Brien, Jen Allen, Dave Kennedy and the list goes on and on.  I didn't want to list everyone here, just those that stood out to me.  So if I missed your name, ping me and I will add it.  Special thanks to everyone on the AV team for recording and posting the videos so darn quickly!  If you search You Tube for "AnyCon Albany", you will find this list of videos or just click my link here.

The bottom line is that Cons in general are a great place to meet up with various like minded people within the Cyber world.. The main goal is to share knowledge with other like minds and also to influence others who are just starting off their careers in Cyber Security.  The term Cyber Security encompasses way too many avenues to list so many just use the umbrella term "Cyber Security" as a catch all.  One thing to know is that while many talks and avenues discuss "Security" there are an equal amount of talks and avenues that discuss the "insecurity" of Cyber spaces as well.  These Cons focus on both sides.  We call them them White Hats (protecting against) and Dark or Black Hats (hacking against the white hats or helping to keep us employed).

DEFCON in Las Vegas each year is a great place to meet up with both sides (White and Black), however it has grown to the point that you will spend more time on lines to hear talks than to actually get in to them. Thus why BSIDESLV is a great opportunity to see the roots of where Cons like DEFCON came into being.  I urge everyone who reads this to not only get involved with your local Cons, but also take the time to go to the various BSIDES events and Cons all over this nation.

 As for ANYCon, next year looks to be already in the talks as this years is still fresh on the mind. More than likely, I will be working with the group to help out and possible a talk or two on the horizon.

 

Thanks again to the ANYCon team for making this "First Annual ANYCon" not only enjoyable but worth the while to attend.

 

Cheers!

 

Steve

 

P.S.

Yes, I will be at BSIDESLV, Blackhat and DEFCON this year.  If you know how to find me, let's chat.  It's always a good time to stop and swap ideas and thoughts on the "Arts".