Black Hat USA 2026 Keynotes to Explore Cybersecurity in the AI Era
Black Hat USA 2026 Keynotes to Explore Cybersecurity in the AI Era
Publish Date: 2026-07-16 23:06:00
Source Domain: www.thefastmode.com
Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points.
Black Hat, one of the cybersecurity industry’s most established security event series, has announced the keynote lineup for Black Hat USA 2026, taking place August 1–6 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
The event’s Opening Session on August 4 will feature a fireside chat with White House National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross, followed by a panel discussion with senior U.S. cybersecurity leaders, including Nick Andersen, Acting Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA); Brett Leatherman, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division; and Katherine (Katie) E. Sutton, Assistant Secretary of War for Cyber Policy and Principal Cyber Advisor to the Secretary of War.
Titled “Cyber Power in the Age of AI,” the session will examine how U.S. cyber policy is evolving amid rapid AI adoption, including government-industry collaboration, critical infrastructure protection, and the changing role of offensive and defensive cyber operations.
Additional keynote sessions will feature David Weston from Microsoft’s Agentic Security team and Yan Shoshitaishvili, Associate Professor at Arizona State University.
Weston’s session, “The End of Rare: Defending When Offense Is Cheap,” will explore how AI-driven vulnerability discovery and exploit generation are reshaping security strategies, pushing defenders toward proactive approaches such as automated remediation and secure software development.
Shoshitaishvili’s “Vulnerability Research in the Agentic Age” will examine the scientific foundations of vulnerability research and how emerging techniques are uncovering security flaws across platforms including IoT devices, browsers, kernels, and bootloaders.
Black Hat USA 2026 will run from August 1–6, with keynote presentations scheduled for August 4–6. Complete program details and registration for Black Hat USA 2026 are available at https://blackhat.com/us-26/.
