Report on BSides Miami 2018

Saturday, September 22, 2018 we had our first Security BSides conference in the South Florida area: BSides Miami.  Hosted at i2 Labs on Biscayne Bay, we had two tracks of speakers, several panels, and about 80+ participants.

I spoke at the conference on the topic of Security Maturity Models.  Interestingly, the presidents of the South Florida ISACA Chapter and HackMiami also spoke at the conference.

For a first time conference, it was overall good.  There were problems, which will happen with a first time event.  I hope they address this for the next time, and I do hope there is a next time.  I was bothered by the emphasis on blockchain.  For my view, BSides should be a conference by and for the whole infosec community.  We should have sessions that appeal to and be of value to a wide range of folks: those getting into the field, mid-level folks, experienced folks, etc.  I do like that seeing other activities at BSides conferences, like job fairs, hack the flag games, lock picking, etc.  A blockchain track is one thing, but it shouldn't overwhelm the overall conference.

Do to the problems with my presentation, I'll be posting a summary here soon.