Behind the Scenes at Black Hat 2024

Another year, another Black Hat USA! It was an amazing few days engaging with colleagues, reconnecting with familiar faces from the cybersecurity marketing world, and meeting Swimlane customers who joined us for our insightful panel discussions. After a week in Las Vegas, we connected with numerous security practitioners that were eager to explore the latest in security automation.

Keep reading for a behind the scenes look at what Swimlane was up to at Black Hat 2024 and some observations our on-site team had along the way. 

On-Site Observations and Opinions 

Although it was not my first Black Hat, every year is a little bit different, and this year was no exception. As we wrapped up the show, I asked other Swimlaner’s what stood out to them this year. Here is what we noticed. 

AI News & Use Cases 

To no one’s surprise, artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. While there were countless AI announcements made this week, including our own, about new state-of-the-art AI learning algorithms that power new Hero AI features, practitioners appear to be numb to the AI buzz. Don’t get me wrong, security operations (SecOps) teams are actively building their AI strategies, but their interest is in practical use cases rather than pie in the sky claims. 

During the show, we unpacked AI use cases and what they entail. Swimlane CISO, Mike Lyborg joined Security Weekly for an on-site interview that focused on how the Swimlane SOC team is driving efficiency and reducing risk through use of AI. One key use case CISO Michael Lyborg discussed in the interview was using Hero AI to streamline quarterly board-level reporting. To see how it works in action, check out this guided tour he created.

Following Lyborg’s discussion with Security Weekly, he joined Bradon Potter, CTO of ProCircular, and Christopher Pasuik, Security Manager of EcoLab, for a panel moderated by Cody Cornell, Swimlane Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). The panel focused on the practical applications of AI in SecOps. After the discussion, we opened the floor to audience questions. The most intriguing question from the live Q&A was:

“Should the government regulate the use of AI?” 

This topic deserves its own blog post, so I’ll save detailed remarks for another time. Subscribe below to stay updated on the conversation.

The Basics are Not So Basic 

Swimlane CISO Mike Lyborg said it best, “the basics are not so basic,” highlighting what stood out in his peer conversations over the week. Fundamentals like asset management, supply chain security, vulnerability management, and attack surface management are still challenging for many security operations center (SOC) teams. Security automation and orchestration are crucial to these solutions, and Lyborg had in-depth discussions with security leaders on how to efficiently operationalize their SOC challenges.

Vulnerability Management is HOT 

Swimlane product managers Jeffrey Chen and David Irwin observed a rising trend among vulnerability management vendors focused on streamlining data from scanners.  Between the CISO conversations and emerging vendors, it’s clear that there is a growing need for automated vulnerability management solutions. 

Start Up City Was all About TDIR 

Chris Mallow, Sr. Solutions Engineer at Swimlane, took a stroll down start up city. As a former SecOps practitioner himself, Mallow loves to scope out the start ups to see if they have any crazy ideas that he hasn’t yet considered. His biggest observation about the Black Hat startups this year is that they were predominantly focused on threat detection and incident response rather than preventative or proactive cybersecurity solutions. 

AI & Automation, the Ultimate Human Enablers 

Brandon Potter, CTO of ProCircular and Swimlane customer summed it up perfectly in his interview with Security Weekly… 

“No one dreams of being a SOC analyst for their entire life, analysts want to advance their career.” 

As a security leader, Potter aims to enable this by combining low-code security, AI, and automation. This approach helps Swimlane customers, like ProCircular, enhance both the analyst experience and security metrics.

That’s a Wrap on Black Hat 

I hope you enjoyed this candid debrief of Swimlane’s experience at Black Hat USA 2024. After 48 hours in Las Vegas, 20,000+ steps, two flight delays, and a room upgrade at Vdara (thank you Vdara), my feet are sore and my brain is fried. If you were at Black Hat, I’m sure you’re feeling the same, so I’ll keep this brief.

If you missed us and want to explore tried and true use cases for AI-enhanced security automation, visit swimlane.com/resources/demo-center.