To help you make the best of your bosses bucks, SC asked a cross-section of security folks for their favourite conferences or those they would most like to attend.
The list is not exhaustive and we encourage readers to contribute their lists and opinions in the comment section or tweet them.
Please note, dates and ticket prices were accurate only at the time of writing. Check the respective websites for details.
Securus Global
(Drazen Drazic)
"We usually tend to steer well clear of the professional conference organiser ones that seem to be on every second week and are just a money making venture for the organisers and give little back. Every so often they might get a decent presentation but for most part, they’re setup for the dollars and presentations aren’t vetted. They charge a bomb also. Australia AusCERT is okay and we’re hoping to potentially get a talk or two in again next year. On the presenting front, we also like to present at non-security conferences to reach a broader audience."
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RuxCon (TBA, around November, tickets about $80)
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Kiwicon (TBA, around November, tickets about $60)
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Defcon (August, tickets about $200)
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BlackHat (Multiple events, Europe con in March, tickets from $1360)
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RECON (TBA, around June, tickets from about $550)
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Power of Community (TBA, about November, tickets from about $500)
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T00rcon (June, tickets about $100)
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SecTor (October, tickets from about $500)
HackLabs
(Chris Gatford)
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Defcon (August, tickets about $200)
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BlackHat (Multiple events, Europe con in March, tickets from $1360)
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BSides Las Vegas (July, August, tickets free)
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Kiwicon (TBA, around November, tickets about $60)
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RuxCon (TBA, around November, tickets about $80)
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Derbycon (September, tickets: $150)
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Infiltrate (April, tickets $1675)
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Chaos Communication Congress (December, tickets from about $220)
DKH
(Dan Kaminsky)
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Derbycon (September, tickets: $150)
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T00rcon (June, tickets: about $100)
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Hack In The Box (April: Amsterdam, October: Kuala Lumpur, tickets $868, TBA)
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RuxCon (TBA, around November, tickets about $80)
Atlassian
(Vitaly Osipov)
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RECON (TBA, around June, tickets from about $550)
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Syscan (Singapore April, Shanghai November tickets from $770)
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ZeroNights (TBA, around November, tickets about $500)
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Hackito ergo sum (TBA, around April, tickets about $185)
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BreakPoint (TBA around October, tickets $1700)
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Trail of Bits
(Dan Guido)
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SummerCon: (TBA, around June, tickets $50): "Incredibly technical."
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SOURCE Boston: (Boston, April, Spain, TBA, $495): "Undervalued."
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Nordic Security Conference: (TBA, around August, tickets about $300): "Fun."
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ShakaCon: (June, tickets $275): "It's in Hawaii. Enough said."
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CSAW:THREADS: (TBA, November, tickets free): "Best in industry meets academia."
Rapid 7
(HD Moore)
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Derbycon (September, tickets $150):
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CansecWest (March, tickets from $1900)
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BSides Las Vegas (July, August, tickets free)
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BSides San Francisco (February, tickets free)
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Defcon (August, tickets about $200): "A massive turnout counts for something."
Sophos
(Phil Piotrowski)
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BreakPoint (TBA around October, tickets $1700)
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RuxCon (TBA, around November, tickets about $80)
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Kiwicon (TBA, around November, tickets about $60)
BT
(Bruce Schneier)
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RSA (February to March, $1895. Europe conference TBA)
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BlackHat (Multiple events, Europe con in March, tickets from $1360)
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Gartner Security (various international conferences)
Google
(Mateusz Jurczyk)
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RECON (TBA, around June, tickets from about $550)
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BreakPoint (TBA around October, tickets $1700)
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RuxCon (TBA, around November, tickets about $80)
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BlackHat (Multiple events, Europe con in March, tickets from $1360) "In Las Vegas has a lot of interesting material."
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Hackito ergo sum (TBA, around April, tickets about $185): "I heard Hackito in Paris is pretty cool."
Loukas K.
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Kiwicon (TBA, around November, tickets about $60); "The coolest, most welcoming group of people around."
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YSTS: "A really cool crowd, small con in a bar."
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Ekoparty: (TBA around September, tickets from $80) "I would love to go to go some time - I've heard great things."
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Defcon (August, tickets about $200)
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BlackHat (Multiple events, Europe con in March, tickets from $1360): "Defcon and Blackhat are standard I guess, but I have a blast every year. Really high quality of talks."
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RuxCon (TBA, around November, tickets about $80): "If people don't know about it, they should."
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Syscan: "Full of Chinese military and spooks, but great all the same."
OSI Security
(Patrick Webster)
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RuxCon (TBA, around November, tickets about $80)
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Kiwicon (TBA, around November, tickets about $60)
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BlackHat (Multiple events, Europe con in March, tickets from $1360)
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Defcon (August, tickets about $200)
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PenTesterLab
(Louis Nyffenegger)
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AISA (TBA, around October, tickets require $50 membership) "AISA seems to be doing a great job with their yearly conferences, a lot of big names (non-technical for most of them, but CSO of big companies)."
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BreakPoint (TBA around October, tickets $1700): "I think BreakPoint changed the deal, and it's not worth going to Blackhat anymore since the best Blackhat talks are coming to Breakpoint. It's really nice to have this kind of talks in Australia and given the quality of the talks, I think local speakers are going to fight really hard to get in next year and put their name near the best world speakers."
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ZeroNights (TBA, around November, tickets about $500): "I didn't go but some of the best papers I saw this year came from there. It's a brand new conference and I think it's gonna get huge really quick. The thing I liked the most if that the talks were close to the daily work of a pentester compared to other cons that shows elite stuff you will never use. It's probably the new con of the year."
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RuxCon (TBA, around November, tickets about $80)
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Hackito ergo sum (TBA, around April, tickets about $185): "If you want a French conference, HES is really good."
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Ruxmon: "Ruxmon is a big one as well, every month in three cities now with high quality talks for free. I don't think you can get better value."
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Defcon (August, tickets about $200): "I think it's getting way too big and more and more people complain about it (need to queue to see talks)."
F-Secure
(Mikko Hypponen)
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BlackHat (Multiple events, Europe con in March, tickets from $1360)
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PacSec (TBA, around November, tickets from $1200)
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Hack In The Box (April: Amsterdam, October: Kuala Lumpur, tickets $868, TBA)
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Virus Bulletin (October, tickets TBA from $1615)
T2 (October, $1550)
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Integrate Expo 2025
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iTnews Benchmark Security Awards 2025
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