BSides SATX 2025
I volunteered at BSides SATX this year and had an AMAZING experience!
I was originally assigned the role of Runner, but the Universe smiled upon me during registration, and I filled in as the Room Monitor for the afternoon session.
This meant I was able to sit in on the presentations in my assigned room, and let me tell you, I was in for a treat!
After lunch, I had a few minutes to walk around and visit the various vendors. My notable conversations happened with the ISSA Alamo Chapter, Women's Society of Cyberjutsu, Alamo Chapter, Black Hills Information Security, and Kevin E McDonald, CISSP from the ISC2 Alamo Chapter. After snagging some swag, it was time to get to work.
However, I had a slight hiccup at the onset of my shift.
While trying to find a solution to allow Ryan René Rosado to connect to the conference room infrastructure, I realized I was in the wrong room. Which was sad because her AI-Cybersecurity Crash Course was starred and circled twice on my schedule planner, and based on the awesome vibe I got from her, the attendees were in for a treat.
Thankfully, the Universe kept smiling, and I got a chance to sit in on some amazing presentations.
Dr. Diana Orozco, Elizabeth Amy Posada, and Dr. Melisa A. Joyner presented one of the most engaging talks I've been a part of in quite some time. We reviewed clips of various cyber attacks in movies/TV, and used Kahoot to determine if the hacks were real, fake, or partially true. And yes, Hackers was featured in the lineup.
Next up was a lockpicking demo by Radioteacher, and my jaw was on the floor the whole time. I had no idea how simple it is to pick locks! They had audience members come to the front of the room, and with less than 30 seconds of instruction, they were able to pick every lock they were given. I'm going to be doing some more research in this area for sure.
Steven Bernstein's (aka SciaticNerd) talk regarding how to set up your own cloud server using a Raspberry Pi was another blessing from the Universe. I recently found out I won a Pi based on my dedication to the mission and continuous learning during my internship, and I was brainstorming projects. You can find his talk on the topic from a previous meetup here: Your Data, Less Cloudy
Aishwarya Desai delivered an informative presentation on the lifecycle of ransomware attacks and techniques for investigation, containment, and recovery. He is a wealth of knowledge, and we were truly blessed.
Lastly, Bonifacio Capuyan shared his experience from mentoring 130+ cybersecurity students and gave us SO MANY nuggets of wisdom on how to make a successful transition into the cybersecurity workforce. One of his many tips was the power of networking, and attending this conference, for me, was proof of concept.
I had the opportunity to engage in many meaningful conversations, and I am so grateful to Richard Davey and Kristen Balch for extending the opportunity to volunteer. I will be back next year for sure!