CypherCon 2027
KEYNOTE: AI Is Changing Everything
David Kennedy
Abstract:
When I started in this industry in the early 90s, the cybersecurity industry isn’t what we see today. There weren’t governance structures, penetration tests, formal adoption of security principles within organizations. There were no college degrees, no formal education or training. It was hacking. These are what I consider the golden years of cybersecurity – rapid innovation, advancements, breaking technology until it performed and was resilient. We were figuring our way through the technological advancements. AI to me feels like another golden age, where we are forging a new cybersecurity industry and community. In this presentation, we’ll cover what has changed, why it’s drastically different, and how we can plan on looking in the future to making something epic.
David Kennedy
Back from the Future!
David Kennedy, is the founder of two highly successful and renowned global cybersecurity companies Binary Defense and TrustedSec and is considered an industry leader in cybersecurity.
As the former Chief Security Officer of Diebold Incorporated, he led large global cybersecurity teams and built a world-class security organization. Recognized as a top professional, David has testified before Congress, continuously shapes cyber security policy, and provides expert analysis on national news outlets.
Most notably, he advised on the TV show “Mr. Robot,” to provide real-world hacking insights to the Emmy winning drama series.
As a founding author of the Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES), he played a pinnacle role in shaping the penetration testing and offensive security industry. David is known as the catalyst that started PowerShell security and has authored widely popular tools like the Social-Engineer Toolkit as well as countless open-source frameworks, security advisories, and zero-day research.
David was one of the founders of DerbyCon – a conference that spanned nine years and was one of the industry’s most popular cybersecurity conferences. David also co-authored the number one best-selling cybersecurity book on hacking and exploitation techniques.
David is a proud Marine, served in the intelligence community, and was deployed several times to Iraq and other countries. In David’s spare time, he focuses on family first, fitness, co-hosting the “Hacking Your Health Podcast,” and enjoys a passion for gaming. He even built a movie-accurate DeLorean time machine, inspired by his favorite film, Back to the Future.
David’s life mission is to help others and to make the world a safer place in cybersecurity which drives him every single day.