Converge 2017
By Greenjam94
May 11-12th was the Converge conference. If you’re in Michigan and are curious about information security, then I suggest you look at attending next year. For those that missed this year, Irongeek recorded all the talks and posted them online for you! Watch some of the talks and then put an alert on your phone to buy tickets for next year.
Converge is a great conference. I’ll admit I’m partial because it’s in my backyard. However that isn’t the only reason I like it. The talks cover great content, the speakers are friendly, and it’s not so big that guests feel like they’re lost in a see of other attendees.
Volunteering
On Thursday, I spent the morning volunteering with Irongeek recording talks for track 2. Helping with A/V is great because I get to volunteer and watch talks with a front row seat. In the afternoon I networked with people in the halls, after all that’s the most important part of a conference, right?
Friday was a lot of fun. I started off by playing with a new toy. A nexus phone loaded with Kali NetHunter. I’m still exploring the tools on it but one of them is called the Mana wireless toolkit that allows me to broadcast a wireless network. This makes for excellent trolling, especially for those who get the inside joke.. There was some evidence at GrrCON a few years ago.
Learning how to pen test
The rest of the day, I was in training for web application pen testing. Kevin Johnson from SecureIdeas offered a 1 day version of his week long training course. We went over a lot of great topics, like his recommended methodology and the tools that pen testers can use.
While the training was amazing, it’s still something that Kevin offers others, so I don’t want to spill too many secrets. I do suggest that if you’re interested that you take a look at his site, secretideas.com.
I’ve said it before on these blog posts and I’ll say it again. Conferences are a great center for networking, learning, and growing if you’re looking at getting into the information security industry. Hopefully my stories from this year’s Converge has convinced you to attend the next conference in your area!