Opening Remarks Day 1 - BSides Edmonton 2025

So welcome to the 8th annual Bside Edmonton. We reached uh continuity with eight years. Um before I start today uh we have the core team today like you know of the Bside who thought about Bside uh like you know kind of 9 years ago and then that's how we got it. We have Andrew Meek here raise your hand. Liam Sombberville and Joshua Reynolds. He's back. He's our um like you know tomorrow's keynote. Um Michael Spalling is here. Um like you know these are render men uh like you know of course um >> so so we we have like 15 people used to meet in like 9 years ago like was in the bar and like you know spin up this idea

so I'm not going to speak after that. Uh but um I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart that you should show up here on Monday. So uh I'll start with the survey uh like because this is how we improve every year. After the event, we will send you a survey um with the email link. It's not a fishing link. Uh it's just a link with the survey. So please take the time to fill it out um so we can be better next year. uh questions uh find a volunteer or stop at registration desk. So if someone you see wearing this t-shirt um then uh ask them they will help you

or if they're not uh like you know just come find me. I will be wandering around here. Uh code of conduct we have a code of conduct. We just expect you to be the professional and kind to other people. Um and if you want to read uh the code of conduct, it's on battlemintton uh.org/c uh report an issue to volunteer if you feel like there is any. So this year uh we have the theme cyber defenders rising the good guys are pushing back. Uh, Cyber Defender Rising highlights the strength of cyber security professionals, ethical hackers, security researchers and technology leaders who are actively defending systems data people from cyber threats. The good guys are pushing back emphasizes a turning

point, a shift from being constantly on defensive to proactively identifying, fighting and defeating malicious cyber actors. So this is the theme um for this year. uh you have all access pass you don't need a special pass to attend talks u CTFs lunch or any challenge so no need to check in at the registration desk tomorrow this pass works everywhere in with in this facility for bead Edmonton uh lunch uh we put this slide specifically because last year uh kind of we mess up with the numbers on the lunch. Um so please only take one lunch pow. Uh do not take vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free lunches if that is not what you ordered when you registered. Uh

lunch is available on floor one and floor two. Um wherever you want to go uh like you know eat, network in atrium, track 2, track three, CTF area. So some housekeeping things. Uh we have washrooms on the left side. Uh emergency exits uh three emergency exits in in this building. Uh you can see in the map. Uh we have track one here, track second and track third. Um on like you know second um second floor. U sponsors is in atrium. Uh we have on the second uh 232 is the track two. uh two uh 233 is the track three and then 234 is the CTF and we have partners in uh 242A. Um so please visit our partners as well

and then we if you're speaker uh the there is a green room uh 218 on the second floor. Uh if you signed up for the dinner tonight uh dinner will be on uh Pix Cafe uh 333. So I would like to thank our sponsors. Um we it's not possible without uh the sponsorship. Um like you know kind of uh thank you VM and Cisco. Uh Cisco is like continuously like you know every year sponsors. Uh VM is also like you know our regular sponsors. uh gold sponsors Arctic Coheridity and then we have silver sponsors MNP digital tents one identity iron sphere object first cribble abnormal net scope crowdstrike Canadian center for cyber security kips Alberta

and bronze sponsors McKeven University thank you Thomas for giving us some money um inind sponsors NCL uh powered by the cyber skyline um infosc maps hack defender uh black hills information security and hack 5. So reason to make sure uh to see our sponsors uh they make this event possible. Uh without the sponsorship money uh there will be no lunch, no recorded talks, no prizes. fill out your bingo card, enter your information if you want to because we don't share attendees information with um sponsors. So, if you like to share yourself, uh we're not going to stop you and enter in enter to win a prize uh drawing held at the closing ceremony on Tuesday.

Sorry. Too quick. uh reason to make sure you see our partners. Bside is not the only one like you know talking about security. There are other groups uh like Chads University cyber security club cyber Alberta Vicis MITente Canada Foundation McKean University um ethical hacking club women's cyber security society uh department of computer science university of Alberta they are also like promoting the security um in Edmonton and across the Canada and world. Uh so I would call um one of the partner WCS uh merch raffle.

Anyone from WCS here? Okay. So you want to talk about Yes, if you don't mind me taking that. Good morning everyone. Feels great to be here. I've come all the way from Calgary and to not just be on the panel but to also just share a few words about uh with us. And so I bring very warm greetings from Lisa Kernney who is like the lead uh partner for whis. It's a group that supports women in cyber security. Obviously, we acknowledge that we have male allies, but we understand the gap that's brewing and you know, having someone or having a group standing and holding a fort for women in cyber or women who are wanting

to come into cyber in a time like this is very important. And so, just a a brief summary of some of the things that's going to be happening uh over the conference. Um, we will be giving out some prizes um as you can see on the screen. uh branded TE's. There'll be a package. There will be a QR code that needs to be scanned, I believe. So, will that be shared at some point? Okay, perfect. So, it's on the badges. So, you want to scan those codes to enter. Uh there's also a couple of scholarships. Perfect. Thank you, Nicole. Um there's also a number of scholarships that are available for free which include the Google certificate uh scholarship. I

believe that we can share some of those links at some point but I know that Whis is giving out some of those to participants at this conference. I don't think it'll be transferable but we know that we are in a time where upskilling is super important. So, um, when you do get those links, please feel free to take advantage of some of these scholarships that are available. Um, also, please feel free to don't forget scan and um, if you're on social media, tag uh, whises if you do um, use if you do use any of our stuff or find our merchandise anywhere. But thank you so much for having us besides Edmonton and um, looking forward to the rest of the

conference. Thank you.

Okay. Um, we have Chads. Chloe, you want to come in?

>> Thank you, Harender. Um, hello everyone. My name is Chloe Kim. I'm the president of women in cyber security UVA student chapter and the chancellor of Chad's cyber security hacking and digital security club. Our clubs host events like industry talks, CTFs, workshops, mentorship programs, and many others. And just two years ago, the UVA cyber security community was very small, but over the past year, it's grown significantly thanks to our supporters, sponsors, and the amazing work of our exec teams here. Um, and last year, Chadz actually had 200 in-person participants at our uh, annual CTF. So, we're really excited to build on this momentum and create more opportunities for students who are shaping the future of cyber security and um, and we'd love

to share more about what we're building and we really appreciate the support that makes this growth possible. So, uh, please feel free to check out our booth upstairs or reach out. We would love to connect and thank you Bides for having us. Uh, I really look forward to seeing this community grow with students at its heart. Thank you.

>> We have Yex slide if you want to like you know come and talk. So Liam you want to give Okay. >> Yeah. Next next. Diana Initiative. Nicole is here. So, >> all right. I know we're in Canada, but I happen to run a nonprofit in the States for uh underrepresented people to help them either pivot into technology or to get started in technology. So, if anybody comes down to Hacker Summer Camp, um please check us out. Uh we would love to help you find resources or if you want to try out mentoring or volunteering, we will totally take your time. >> Thank you. Thank you. Uh we have vices. Um so >> have just two minutes for you.

>> Okay. Hi, good morning everybody. My name is Mana Ing uh past president of Whisus Western Canada. Um and with me here is Shri, a fellow board member. Um so Whisas Western Canada affiliate started in u 2021. uh we co-founded it and it covers British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. It's part of a larger non-global organization called WHIS or women in w uh cyber security. And our mission is to help uh build a robust cyber security workforce through recruitment retainment and advancements of of women in cyber security. We're now currently globally 11,000 members. 53% made up of students. So that's a huge percentage. There are a number of initiatives from media uh

programming for uh early career, mid and senior level uh professionals. And over the past few years, we've run a number of events. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So we have so many local events and >> so we have the booth upstairs. We don't have much time to mention anything. Please uh join us there. We have a lot of information. And thank you so much uh for supporting.