While people were already skeptical about the fate of this year’s DEF CON and Black Hat Conferences, the news is finally out.
As announced, both DEF CON and Black Hat USA 2020 Conferences will go virtual. Whereas, the in-person meetings stand canceled. The announcements surface online after carefully considering the ongoing situation due to COVID-19.
According to the updates shared by the Black Hat General Manager, Steve Wylie,
While we will not be meeting in person, we are moving forward with a plan to transform Black Hat USA into an all-virtual event in order to best serve our community.”
A similar announcement comes from the DEF CON’s team as well with considerable details.
Even if a vaccine were to be discovered tomorrow it would not be soon enough to test, manufacture, distribute and administer in time for people to safely travel by August…
While I made the decision to cancel the in-person conference almost a month ago on April 11th, the delay in announcing has been due to learning how to actually cancel. It has taken weeks of working with staff, lawyers, accountants, and Caesars. I didn’t want to endanger the future of the con by tweeting that we were canceling before we understood and were confident we could navigate the process.
What Next?
DEF CON is NOT exactly CANCELLED! However, the in-person gathering is. The same goes for the Black Hat USA 2020.
While, presently, not much details are available as to how these conferences will manage the online setup. Nonetheless, at least, their schedule is now confirmed.
This year’s DEF CON will be the DEF CON 28 Safe Mode scheduled for August 7-9, 2020. Whereas, the Black Hat USA 2020 Conference will be held before DEF CON, i.e., August 1-6, 2020.