What is Security B-SidesROC?

You’re busy so let me sum up BSidesROC for you. This is what we are:

• A free Information Security conference aimed at the local community
• A day filled with information security presentations by industry professionals
• A fun day of interacting, networking, hanging out, encouraged by games and fun activities

Our mission is to repeat previous year’s success in producing Rochester’s first ever free and open Hacker Con. We intend to teach the community, support Rochester’s hacker scene, and build relationships between professionals.

Hackers in Rochester

We don’t steer away from using the word hacker; in fact we celebrate it. BSidesROC is a hacker con in the most positive sense of the word in the same ilk as the famous DEFCON hacker con in Las Vegas. Unlike the word “hacker” used in the media, our hackers are people who innovate, learn, and share their experience with the rest of the world.

What’s a Security B-Sides?

Security B-Sides Rochester, or as we like to call it, BSidesROC, is part of a framework of worldwide security conferences that tries to be different than your standard, run-of-the-mill conference. We try to create opportunities for individuals to both present and participate in an atmosphere that encourages collaboration. This is done by the various activities throughout the day.

Supporting the Rochester Community

One of the underlying goals of BSidesROC, besides throwing a good conference, is to support the growth of local businesses, professionals, and students. Our presentations aim to raise awareness about security topics, our capture-the-flag competition will show off the skills of talented individuals, and we’ll be organizing our first ever job fair that aims to get organizations in touch with their future employees.

BSidesROC the Organization

BSidesROC is a 100% volunteer organized group. Our operating costs are miniscule but pay for the venue, the food, and whatever other costs come with running the con. The volunteers that invest their time understand the goal of throwing a good event, not making money and no one makes a penny. A combination of our sponsors and our volunteers keep us coming back year after year.

What to Expect This Year

Our third year plans to be the best installment of BSidesROC yet. We have even more organizers this year that have come up with some great ideas. Here’s a quick list of some of the things that may make it into this year’s schedule:

• A venue unlike most conference events you’ve ever seen
• A capture the flag style hacking competition designed for novice to advanced users alike
• 8 hours of presentations by industry experts, local professionals, and security researchers from across the country
• A hacker job fair for students and employers
• Free breakfast and lunch provided
• Did we mention that all of this is free to the public?

Getting Involved

As a community driven event, we rely on people like you to keep us going. There are a lot of different ways to be involved.

Presenting:

We are always looking for technical security related topics. If you’ve been doing research and want to share it with the community, BSidesROC offers a good venue to share the information and get your name out there. Submit your presentation ideas to [email protected].

Volunteering:

Our volunteers are the gears that keep the conference going. They’re made up of a lot of smart people that are good to know. Join in on the fun behind the scenes. If you’re interested, contact [email protected].

 Attending:

Why throw a conference that nobody goes to? We wouldn’t. That’s why we need to get the word out and get people coming in. Tell your friends, tell your coworkers, tell your boss, tell the weird guy at the coffee shop wearing the black hoodie. Find out how to get your free ticket on our website: www.bsidesroc.com

Sponsoring:

We could not exist without our sponsors. These guys make the conference free: they pay for the food, the venue, they help us keep everything together and we love them. If you want your organizations name involved in a community driven event like ours, please consider sponsoring. For more information contact [email protected].