Featured Talks
Great starting points across different topics and experience levels.
CISSP - What I Learned
Mariana
Mariana shares her hard-won insights on the CISSP exam, revealing that it's fundamentally a management exam wearing technical clothing. She walks through her study strategies, favorite resources, and a custom practice question she designed just for Simply CyberCon attendees.
Elementary Security
Ken Smith (Director of Learning and Development at Petoran)
Ken Smith, a red teamer and father of two, shares his family's deliberate approach to keeping kids safer online. He blends real offensive-security insight with honest parenting stories to show why children's digital footprints matter more than most families realize.
Slaying a Legacy Code Dragon
Jake
Jake, a Clemson CS grad and Windows driver developer, argues that cybersecurity professionals embody three virtues — curiosity, courage, and perseverance — that software engineers should adopt when tackling legacy codebases. A short, inspirational case for bringing hacker mindset to everyday development.
From Technical to Tactical
John Hoy
John Hoy, CISO of Clemson University, teaches how storytelling transforms security communication with non-technical leadership. He shares two unforgettable war stories — accidentally DDoSing his own university and investigating a student linked to one of the largest DDoS attacks ever recorded — while walking through Matthew Dicks' storytelling framework.
Security Plus SY0-701 - How I Passed
AB (first name, from Simply Cyber community)
AB shares the 7-step method he used to pass the CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 exam, covering exam scheduling, understanding the 'why' behind concepts, Professor Messer's videos, active reading with color-coded highlights, and using mnemonic stories to lock in tough topics.
First Flag
Christopher
Christopher delivers a beginner-friendly walkthrough of Capture The Flag competitions, covering different CTF styles, useful tools, and practical tips for getting started. He shares approachable advice on note-taking, using AI assistants, and finding CTF events that match your level.
Sowing the Seeds of Innovation - Blockchain Education for Future Leaders
Elizabeth Sullivan
Elizabeth Sullivan, a children's book author, shares how she wrote 17 blockchain education books for kids using a 'five chops a day' consistency framework. She makes the case that tech professionals should create educational content to onboard the next generation into emerging technologies.
Browse All Talks
Every session from Simply CyberCon 2024.
CISSP - What I Learned
Mariana
Mariana shares her hard-won insights on the CISSP exam, revealing that it's fundamentally a management exam wearing technical clothing. She walks through her study strategies, favorite resources, and a custom practice question she designed just for Simply CyberCon attendees.
Cyber Doomsday Prepping
Brandon (Incident Response Consultant)
Brandon, an incident response consultant, delivers a fast-paced walkthrough of IR planning modeled after doomsday prepping. He covers IR plan structure, legal terminology pitfalls, cyber insurance strategy, and response capabilities documentation, grounded in real consulting war stories.
Elementary Security
Ken Smith (Director of Learning and Development at Petoran)
Ken Smith, a red teamer and father of two, shares his family's deliberate approach to keeping kids safer online. He blends real offensive-security insight with honest parenting stories to show why children's digital footprints matter more than most families realize.
Failing Forward
Joe Heli
Joe Heli delivers a deeply personal keynote about transforming life's hardest moments into forward momentum. From a childhood marked by domestic violence, through military service and a suicide attempt in Afghanistan, to eventually finding purpose in cybersecurity — this is a raw, honest story about resilience.
Finding the Missing Piece - Improving Your Job Hunt Messaging
Daniel Picnich (WitherWolf / ForFox)
Daniel Picnich shares how constant job rejections despite a decade of IT experience led him to a hard realization: his resume wasn't conveying his actual skills. After getting honest debrief feedback, he overhauled his professional messaging and went 5-for-5 on his next applications.
First Flag
Christopher
Christopher delivers a beginner-friendly walkthrough of Capture The Flag competitions, covering different CTF styles, useful tools, and practical tips for getting started. He shares approachable advice on note-taking, using AI assistants, and finding CTF events that match your level.
From Beans to Breaches
Lou Vega
Lou Vega uses a broken coffee maker as a surprisingly brilliant teaching tool for application security, showing how breaking systems into input, processing, and storage components unlocks the hunter's mindset. He shares real pentest war stories that make appsec click for beginners and veterans alike.
From Nobody to Known - Tactics to Get Connected, Invited, and Referred
Chris Young
Chris Young shares the three-step framework that took him from unknown newcomer to getting five conference talks, two dozen job referrals, and guest instructor roles in just eight months. His high-energy message centers on backward planning, imperfect action, and giving without expectation.
From Technical to Tactical
John Hoy
John Hoy, CISO of Clemson University, teaches how storytelling transforms security communication with non-technical leadership. He shares two unforgettable war stories — accidentally DDoSing his own university and investigating a student linked to one of the largest DDoS attacks ever recorded — while walking through Matthew Dicks' storytelling framework.
Having Optimism in the Age of AI
Chris (works at Wistic)
Chris delivers a GRC-focused talk encouraging optimism about AI by drawing parallels to how our industry solved past challenges like cloud adoption and early internet security. He argues for incremental steps, leveraging existing frameworks like NIST and ISO, and treating AI governance as a skill you build by doing.
Old Parents, New Tech
Damon (Cyber From Fire)
Damon shares heartfelt stories about helping his 88-year-old father navigate technology, making a warm and moving case for patience when supporting elderly family members. The talk weaves cybersecurity awareness for seniors into a broader reflection on human connection, aging, and community.
Patches For Phishing
Amy Bid
Amy Bid, a business strategist who consults with small businesses on digital marketing, shares how she achieved a 100% success rate against 200 phishing attempts over six years using a simple approach: emotional support and training. Her core message: look, don't click, and verify.
Public Speaking
James McQuiggan
James McQuiggan, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4 with 400+ presentations under his belt, delivers a masterclass on public speaking fundamentals. He covers building confidence through practice, presentation tips, PowerPoint best practices, and how to handle mistakes on stage with grace.
Security Plus SY0-701 - How I Passed
AB (first name, from Simply Cyber community)
AB shares the 7-step method he used to pass the CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 exam, covering exam scheduling, understanding the 'why' behind concepts, Professor Messer's videos, active reading with color-coded highlights, and using mnemonic stories to lock in tough topics.
SEO for Cyber Content Creation
Christina Paa
Christina Paa, an SEO professional by trade, delivers an impromptu talk on search engine optimization for cybersecurity content creators. She covers Google Trends for keyword research, on-page SEO tactics, the 'Google coin' metaphor for ranking, and why authentic expertise matters more than ever in the AI overview era.
Simply Cyber Con 2024 Opening Comments
Gerald Auger (with Jeanie Rogers)
Gerald Auger kicks off Simply CyberCon 2024 with ground rules, logistics, and warm shoutouts to the volunteer team. Jeanie Rogers introduces the Fox Pick lockpick village, and attendees learn about food trucks, BSides Charleston, and the community spirit driving the inaugural event.
Slaying a Legacy Code Dragon
Jake
Jake, a Clemson CS grad and Windows driver developer, argues that cybersecurity professionals embody three virtues — curiosity, courage, and perseverance — that software engineers should adopt when tackling legacy codebases. A short, inspirational case for bringing hacker mindset to everyday development.
Sowing the Seeds of Innovation - Blockchain Education for Future Leaders
Elizabeth Sullivan
Elizabeth Sullivan, a children's book author, shares how she wrote 17 blockchain education books for kids using a 'five chops a day' consistency framework. She makes the case that tech professionals should create educational content to onboard the next generation into emerging technologies.
Why Should You Care About Incident Response for Your Microsoft 365 Solutions
Vanessa Tois
Vanessa Tois, a Microsoft 365 Solutions architect turned data security advocate, delivers a deep dive into why M365 admins belong in incident response planning. She covers the daily reality of ransomware, critical gaps in Microsoft's native data protection, and how today's backup architecture decisions determine tomorrow's recovery success.