July 30th, 2009 by bl4ckc4t

BSides is an ad-hoc gathering of information security types born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants.

During a break in BlackHat I recognized a familiar face Chris Nickerson a featured member of TruTV’s Tiger Team, a 30 minute reality television program showing the activities of actual penetration tests and active assessments. An uncertainty of who he was I approached him to view the name on his badge, but received a look from him as if I was going to harass him. After explaining my actions and a brief introduction we chuckled with amusement when he mentioned what his anticipated reactions were when I approached him.

After a brief conversation with Chris he mentioned that he is coordinating an event with Security B-Sides an event hosted as BSidesLasVegas and extended an invitation to us, which we gladly accepted pending the availability of seats at the event and we had to register to get on the list.

BSidesLasVegas is an alternative options for folks who visit for the after parties or never planned on attending the original conference. The forum was a small set hosted at a home with speakers in a round-table like environment. This setup allowed a small group of security enthusiast to interact in a smaller session with the presenters. The interaction and the networking of people in a casual gathering made it more effective to get involved. I was very thankful for having the opportunity to meet Chris and attend his event.

For individuals who are interested in attending this event in the future check out the Security B-Sides community Wiki to keep updated.

http://www.securitybsides.com/