BSides Las Vegas 2025: Sky Talks, Password Cracking, and the Global BSides Movement
The largest BSides conference in the world just wrapped up its most ambitious edition yet, extending to two and a half days for the first time while maintaining its signature community-driven spirit.
BSides Las Vegas 2025 concluded on August 6th after a groundbreaking run from August 4-6 at the Tuscany Suites & Casino. This year's event marked a significant evolution for what has grown to become the flagship of the global BSides movement, accommodating approximately 2,700 attendees and featuring 187 speakers across an expanded format.
A New Format for a Growing Community
For the first time in its history, BSides Las Vegas extended beyond its traditional two-day format. The conference delivered two full days of content and activities on Monday and Tuesday, followed by a half day of sessions on Wednesday. The famous pool party remained on Wednesday night, but evening events spread across all three days, creating more opportunities for the networking and collaboration that BSides is known for.
The expansion reflected the growing appetite for community-driven cybersecurity content. As one industry report noted, "BSides started as a conference for rejected Black Hat speakers, but those days are long gone." The conference now showcases cutting-edge research and serves as a proving ground for emerging talent in the security industry.
Security Careers
Sky Talks: The Exclusive Track
One of the most intriguing additions was the Sky Talks track, featuring an exclusive format that required special tokens for entry. Token drops occurred twice on Monday - from 9:00-10:00 AM and 12:30-1:30 PM in the Middle Ground area. This unique approach created an intimate setting for specialized presentations, adding an element of exclusivity to the traditionally open BSides format.
https://hackertracker.app/schedule/?conf=BSIDESLV2025
Grounds-Based Innovation
BSides Las Vegas maintained its distinctive "grounds" structure, where each track operates as its own conference with dedicated themes and organizers. This year's grounds included:
- Breaking Ground - Showcasing security innovation and new research
- Hire Ground - Career development and industry guidance
- Proving Ground - A mentorship track for new speakers
- Password Track - A three-day focus on solving authentication challenges
- Jobs Track - Addressing the current challenges in security hiring
The Middle Ground served as the central hub where all tracks converged for meals, networking, and informal discussions.
Standout Sessions and Research
Several presentations captured significant attention:
Password Security Focus: A custom rig demonstration showed how 936 million passwords could be cracked with 92% accuracy, highlighting ongoing vulnerabilities in authentication systems.
Financial Security Nexus: Stacey Schreft, former deputy director for research and analysis at the US Treasury Department's Office of Financial Research, discussed how security problems could trigger the next major financial crisis.
Career Development: With the current downturn in security hiring, particularly for entry-level positions, four security executives provided guidance on navigating the recruitment cycle.
Cultural Preservation: Brian Baskin from Sublime Security delivered "Keeping Our History Alive: The Hacker's Guide to Sticker Preservation," focusing on the powerful role of laptop stickers in hacker culture and identity.
Hacker Noob Tips
Beyond the Technical: Community Building
True to BSides tradition, the conference maintained its emphasis on community building. The event featured live streams on the BSides Las Vegas YouTube channel, ensuring remote participation and creating an archive for future reference. The traditional Capture the Flag competition provided hands-on learning opportunities, while the silent auction supported the conference's non-profit mission.
The conference's commitment to accessibility was evident in its free-to-low-cost structure, made possible through community and corporate sponsorship. As a federally recognized 501(c)(3) organization since 2012, Security BSides Las Vegas, Inc. continues its mission to advance information security knowledge sharing.
The Global BSides Movement
BSides Las Vegas serves as the flagship of a worldwide movement that has expanded to over 200 events annually across six continents. The BSides framework has proven remarkably adaptable, with each regional event reflecting local interests and expertise while maintaining core principles of community ownership and knowledge sharing.
Security Careers
Upcoming BSides Events to Watch
The BSides calendar remains active throughout 2025, with several major events on the horizon:
BSides RDU - September 12, 2025, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, continues the tradition of East Coast community-driven security conferences with a focus on innovation in the Research Triangle region.
BSides Seattle - Planning is underway for 2025, with this Pacific Northwest event known for its strong technical content and innovative village formats.
BSides San Antonio (SATX) - Scheduled for June 21, 2025, representing the growing Texas cybersecurity community.
BSides San Francisco - Already planning for 2026 (March 21-22), demonstrating the forward-thinking approach of established BSides communities.
BSides New York City - Continuing its tradition as a 100% volunteer-organized event focused on Red Team, Blue Team, and entrepreneurial content.
International Expansion
The BSides movement has achieved truly global reach, with events established across:
- North America: From major metropolitan areas to smaller tech hubs
- Europe: Including established events in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, and expanding to Eastern Europe
- Asia: Growing presence in Japan, India, Thailand, and Southeast Asia
- Africa: Emerging communities in South Africa (Cape Town, Johannesburg) and Kenya (Nairobi)
- South America: Developing regional expertise and local security communities
Each regional BSides reflects local cybersecurity challenges and cultural approaches to technology, creating a rich tapestry of global security knowledge sharing.
Looking Forward
BSides Las Vegas 2025's expansion to two and a half days signals the continued growth and evolution of community-driven security conferences. The success of innovations like Sky Talks and the maintained focus on career development demonstrate how BSides continues to adapt to industry needs while preserving its grassroots character.
The conference's role as a bridge between established security professionals and emerging talent remains crucial, particularly during current industry challenges around hiring and career development. The Proving Ground track, with its mentorship component, exemplifies this commitment to nurturing the next generation of security professionals.
As the cybersecurity industry grapples with rapid technological change, workforce challenges, and evolving threat landscapes, community-driven conferences like BSides provide essential forums for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and innovation. The success of BSides Las Vegas 2025 demonstrates that the appetite for authentic, community-owned security events continues to grow, promising continued expansion and evolution of the global BSides movement.
For those who missed this year's event, presentations and talks are archived on the BSides Las Vegas YouTube channel, ensuring the knowledge shared continues to benefit the broader security community. The conference's commitment to making information freely available embodies the core BSides principle that security knowledge should be accessible to all.
BSides Las Vegas 2026 planning is already underway. For updates and information about the global BSides movement, visit bsideslv.org and the individual websites of regional BSides events.
