There are tons of conferences at any point in the year and it is sometimes difficult to figure out which are worthwhile attending. This post will hopefully provide you with some of the best conferences for Cloud security as well as some reasons why you may want to attend conferences in general.
Recommended Conferences For Cloud Security
This is not an exhaustive list but these conferences generally have a great reputation, don’t cost an arm and a leg, and have some great talks.
- fwd:CloudSec: https://fwdcloudsec.org/
- DefCon - Cloud Village: https://defcon.org
- SANS CloudSecNextSummit: https://www.sans.org/cyber-security-training-events
- KubeCon: https://events.linuxfoundation.org/kubecon-cloudnativecon-north-america/
- SecTor Cloud Summit: https://sector.ca/cloud-summit/ (If you’re already attending SekTor, this is an extra $99)
Advantages of Attending Conferences
Given how much information there is in the world, and how easy it is to get that information right at your fingertips, people can question how conferences actually benefit individuals or an organization. Be it virtual or in person, conferences offer a wide variety of benefits, including:
- Networking: The first and most important benefit of attending conferences is the opportunity to network. You can’t put a price tag on it - it’s all about relationships.
- Discovery: Not only do you get to explore new places, but you get to discover new content that you would not encounter during your day-to-day job.
- Security Education: Most security certifications require some kind of continuing education, and one conference can often cover the security education requirement for the year.
- Community Outreach: All conferences offer opportunities to be mentored or become a mentor - sometimes both. Smaller cons provide attendees a better chance to interact with speakers, while larger events offer opportunities to meet mentors from the within the crowd.
Getting the Most out of Conferences
- Talk to people. Introduce yourself. Exchange ideas. Try to simultaneously absorb as much information as possible and make yourself stand out.
- Try to attend talks on subjects or concepts you may be unfamiliar with. While it seems intimidating, these conferences hire great speakers who will be able to help you learn new concepts with ease.
- If there are formalized presentations, make sure you attend some of them. Networking is great, but these presentations are a rare opportunity to hear relevant information. Additionally, take notes and ask questions to increase your engagement.
While this wasn’t the most elaborate post, I hope that it has convinced you to at least attend one of the aforementioned cloud conferences. If you have any questions or if you would like me to include specific content in my blog, please do reach out!