Blue Team Con Announces Keynote, Talks and Training Sessions for 2025 Conference

CHICAGO (July 29, 2025) —Blue Team Con, the only annual in-person cybersecurity conference for defenders, today announced that cybersecurity expert Jake Williams, aka MalwareJake, will deliver the keynote address titled “Less Resources, More Impact: Doing More With Less In Cybersecurity” at this year’s convention, taking place September 6-7 at the Fairmont Chicago Hotel. In addition, organizers announced a slate of pre-conference training sessions scheduled for September 4-5. More information and registration can be found at blueteamcon.com.

Williams is a seasoned security researcher with decades of experience in technology and security. He is vice president of research and development with Hunter Strategy, as well as a faculty member with IANS, a cybersecurity decision support consultancy and professional development firm. An intelligence community and military veteran, he loves forensics, incident response, cyber threat intelligence and offensive methodologies. Williams is the two-time winner of the Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3) Digital Forensics Challenge, a recipient of the Exceptional Civilian Service Award from the National Security Administration (NSA), and is one of only a handful of people to ever be certified as Master Network Exploitation Operator by the US Government.

“For far too long, cybersecurity conferences focused only on hacking, which is a really small part of security,” said Williams. “Blue Team Con brought the focus to defending networks — you know, where cybersecurity professionals spend the vast majority of our time. It’s always a pleasure to come to Blue Team Con, network with other cyber defenders, and come away with new ideas for how to protect my own organization.”

“We are very excited to have Jake as our keynote speaker this year, and his talk is particularly relevant in light of recent economic uncertainty and staffing challenges at many companies,” said Becky Selzer, Blue Team Con advisory board member. “He was a speaker at the very first Blue Team Con, and his talk on how to translate the value of the blue team to executives was a personal highlight. I’m looking forward to seeing what he will share with us.”

Blue Team Con 2025 programming includes talks by expert speakers from Amazon, Meta, Yale University, Cisco Talos, and Semperis, on such topics as the hidden dangers of AI in developer workflows, building a threat-hunting program from the ground up, gamifying the ransomware response playbook, and the various ways email poses a security threat.

In addition, topic-specific villages will provide flexible space for hands-on experiences and deep dives into areas of interest. Among the villages this year is a Wellness Village curated by Mental Health Hackers, a nonprofit whose mission is to educate tech professionals about the unique mental health risks faced by those in cybersecurity and provide guidance on reducing their effects and better managing potential causes. A Capture the Flag competition will offer newbies and veterans alike the ability to show off their skills and win the admiration of their peers in a unique and fun learning challenge.

The pre-conference training program will feature exclusive one- and two-day educational sessions, including:

• Mastering macOS Threat Detection and Incident Response: A Hands-On Blue Team Training. This two-day training session will equip blue teams with practical skills to monitor, detect, and respond to macOS attacks. With macOS adoption skyrocketing in enterprises, attackers are innovating to target this platform, shattering the myth of macOS immunity.
• Advanced Threat Hunting with AI Support: This two-day course provides a detailed, hands-on approach to modern threat hunting, focusing on identifying, tracing, and mitigating advanced cyber threats. Through case studies, real-world examples, and practical labs, participants will deepen their understanding of how to proactively defend against today’s sophisticated attacks.
• Detection as Code: Modernizing Threat Detection with Sigma. This comprehensive two-day course explores the implementation of Detection as Code principles using Sigma, an open standard for SIEM rule definitions. Designed for security analysts, engineers, and architects, this course bridges the gap between traditional detection methods and modern DevOps practices. Participants will gain hands-on experience with industry-standard tools and methodologies that enable collaborative, consistent, and repeatable detection engineering.
• Hacking the Human OS: Using Gamified Social Engineering to Build Real Security Awareness. This one-day course will explore how to circumvent human nature, not fight it, using immersive scenarios that challenge and reshape instinctual responses to manipulation. Attendees are invited to think like an attacker to better understand their own cognitive blind spots.
• Whiteboard Hacking – aka Hands-on Threat Modeling for Defenders: This two-day training will immerse participants in the practical world of threat modeling, combining hands-on exercises and real-world scenarios. The workshop will feature hands-on activities inspired by actual industry projects, including embedding threat modeling into cybersecurity and DevOps workflows.

“We are especially excited to offer two days of training sessions again this year,” said Stel Valavanis, Blue Team Con cofounder and advisory board member. “Between the training sessions and talks, attendees have the opportunity to earn as many as 32 continuing professional education (CPE) credits over four days at Blue Team Con.”

Tickets to Blue Team Con 2025 are $229, or $40 for students 18 and over; anyone under 18 may attend for free with adult supervision. Training sessions are ticketed separately and range from $700 to $1,200; conference attendance is not required. Special room rates at the Fairmont Chicago Hotel are available for attendees.