This August, the CLTC Public Interest Cybersecurity team was out in full force attending “hacker summer camp”, a nickname for a collection of cybersecurity and hacking conferences held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s a week where information security professionals, hackers, and enthusiasts gather to exchange knowledge, learn new skills, and network.
The team delivered a series of presentations on the work of the Cyber Resilience Corps, a nationwide initiative designed to mobilize cyber volunteers to protect community organizations from cyber threats. These talks, which spanned the DEF CON Main Stage, DEF CON Policy, and BSides Las Vegas, explored both the systemic challenges to protecting community organizations from cyber attacks and the innovative approaches that different cyber civil defenders – such as volunteers – are taking to help, and what role the private sector can play in helping support these community organizations.
Events
On Wednesday, August 6th, CLTC Fellow Grace Menna presented findings from the first year of operations of the Cyber Resilience Corps at the I am the Calvary Track at BSides Las Vegas. Her talk outlined the structural barriers in the current ecosystem of support for community organizations and charted a path forward to mobilize more cyber civil defenders and protect a growing number of community organizations from cyber attacks.
Watch a recording of Menna’s talk at BSides Las Vegas on YouTube.
On Saturday, August 9th, CLTC Fellow Grace Menna and Non-Resident Fellow Michael Razeeq presented at the DEF CON Policy Village, outlining the role of the Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) in protecting high-risk communities as well as other key insights and recommendations from CLTC’s latest report, “A Path to Long-Term Cyber Resilience for Under-Resourced Organizations.”
On Sunday, August 10th, Sarah Powazek, Program Director of the Public Interest Cybersecurity program, took to the main stage at DEF CON with other members of the Cyber Resilience Corps – Adrien Ogee of CyberPeace Institute, and Jake Braun of DEF CON Franklin – to share key lessons learned from running on-the-ground cyber volunteering programs and future plans for scaling efforts and joining forces.
In addition to the week’s presentations, Sarah Powazek joined Dave Bittner on the CyberWire Daily podcast to discuss how the Cyber Resilience Corps came together and dig into the key themes of the recently published Roadmap to Community Cyber Defense report.
The Public Interest Cybersecurity team enjoyed connecting with the hacker community and was excited to see a strong outpouring of support and enthusiasm around cyber volunteering over the course of the week.
Looking Ahead
Members of the Cyber Resilience Corps will reconvene on October 23, 2025 in Madison, Wisconsin for the inaugural Cyber Volunteering Day, a convening for cyber defenders to share best practices and expand services for community infrastructure.Stay in the loop about future events and announcements from the Cyber Resilience Corps by signing up for the CRC mailing list!
