How to Sponsor the 2024 RISE and Underground Economy Conferences
Sometimes in cybersecurity we lose sight of the bigger picture. Each day we're certainly aware that we're taking action to keep our organizations safe and to keep malicious actors out of networks and systems they could impact in major ways.
But it's also about individuals. In an episode of Team Cymru's Future of Cyber Risk podcast, Selena Larson, Senior Threat Intelligence Analyst at Proofpoint, articulated it perfectly when she said:
"There's a human being on the end of every attack. ... It's really important for us as practitioners — that includes intelligence analysts, that includes people who are writing these reports about threat activity — to remember that there's always someone on the other end that's experiencing something that really, really sucks. And … think about how we as a community and as security practitioners ourselves can make the space better so that there are fewer victims of cybercrime."
This is why Team Cymru’s mission is to save and improve lives. Every day we save and improve lives through our nearly 20 years of experience and expertise at providing unparalleled threat intelligence and insight for security vendors, network defenders, incident response teams, and analysts.
We also save and improve lives through our Community Services division that provides no-cost threat detection and intelligence to network operators, hosting providers, and more than 140 CSIRT teams across nearly 90 countries.
And we save and improve lives by hosting four conferences every year, where industry professionals can learn how to better protect their organizations and improve the lives of people in the process.
What are the Underground Economy and RISE Conferences?
Launched in 2008, the Team Cymru Underground Economy Conference is our annual flagship conference with 500 attendees that takes place every year in September. In 2016, we launched three annual, smaller RISE Conferences (200 attendees), to offer four conferences annually. These events are a global gathering of cybersecurity professionals where they can learn more about cyber threats and critical investigations, and take advantage of networking opportunities.
These events are academic in nature, consisting of confidential case studies and workshops on external threat hunting, threat intelligence, and cybercrime, delivered by industry professionals. Past sessions at the Underground Economy Conference and RISE have included case studies presented from the analysts and investigators responsible for thwarting recent high-profile cyber attacks, as well as those who orchestrated massive, transcontinental botnet and dark web takedowns. Past conferences have also covered topics such as:
Sim swapping
Fast flux botnets
Ransomware OPSEC investigative leads
State sponsored hackers
Crypto mining malware
Cyber-security AI in vehicles
Ransomware toolsets
Supply chain risk management
Open source tool reviews
The Underground Economy Conference and RISE consists of one or two days of plenary sessions followed by one to two days of training. Attendance is restricted to verified industry peers and detectives, and those wanting to attend will need to apply. The hand-picked group of up to 200 attendees for RISE and 500 attendees for the annual Underground Economy Conference includes individuals from industry and financial services, law enforcement, information security, and academia.
Our upcoming conference schedule includes:
RISE: January 24–25, 2024 in Latvia
RISE: April, 2024 (location TBD)
Underground Economy Conference: September 2024 in Strasbourg, France
RISE: November 2024 in Singapore
RISE and Underground Economy Conferences rely on generous sponsors in order to make our unique and high-quality conference happen — and you can learn more about sponsorship opportunities below.
Who Benefits from RISE and Underground Economy Conferences?
Ultimately, we all benefit from these events, both those in security and end users who are protected by that security. Because we host events around the globe, RISE and Underground Economy Conferences allow for a more geographically-targeted environment that provides security practitioners with the latest in insights and techniques to aid in the global fight against cybercrime.
Miranda Bruce, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Oxford University and a recipient of an Underground Economy Conference scholarship in September 2023, had this to say about her experience:
"Underground Economy was just really great for me and it's great for anybody. Even if you don't have an academic interest in cybercrime, it teaches you new things, it gets you in touch with new people, and it gives you a new way of thinking about this area and thinking about how cybercrime is becoming more complex and also how it's becoming more simple in some ways."
By bringing these unique learnings back to their organizations, attendees can not only advance their security strategy, but can ensure their teams are up on the latest trends and technology. They'll also walk away with new connections, partnerships, and friendships that will help us all combat cybercrime together.
Why You Should Become a RISE and Underground Economy Conference Sponsor
By becoming a sponsor of these events, you'll not only support the advancement of cybersecurity knowledge and innovation around the globe. You'll save and improve the lives of millions of people who will be less impacted by cybercrime because of it.
Sponsorship also has its benefits as well. Your logo placement across various conference assets lets attendees know that you're a supporter of combating cybercrime worldwide. You'll join past sponsors like Cisco, Google, and Walmart in helping further cybersecurity innovation. You'll also receive guaranteed delegate invitations to these invitation-only conferences so that you can boost your own internal cybersecurity efforts.
If you want to make a tangible impact on combating cybercrime around the globe, learn more about sponsorship opportunities for RISE and Underground Economy Conferences today.
Join us in our mission to save and improve lives, and we'll see you in a few short months at RISE Latvia in January 2024!