Jewish CyberSecurity experts, beginners, and enthusiasts gathered for a conference in Crown Heights to network and exchange ideas. The meeting was noteworthy in more ways than one.
History was made this past week at Hacker’s HackelCon in Crown Heights, the first Jewish Cybersecurity conference by JSEC.
JSEC (Jews in Cyber Security), a collective of Jewish CyberSecurity experts, hosted its 1st conference in Crown Heights on Sept 5th, 19 Elul. It brought together professionals, beginners, and enthusiasts with the goal of helping newcomers gain exposure to career paths within the cybersecurity industry and fostering networking and knowledge sharing between Jewish professionals in the field.
Anash.org was a proud media sponsor of the event, prominently advertising the event in the days leading up, and sending photographers to cover the conference as it took place.
The evening featured exceptional speakers, professionals in the field, addressing the wide diversity of attendees.
Notable Presentations from the Conference:
Sholom Bryski delivered the evening’s Keynote, sharing wisdom and lessons from his 40-year career as a Chossid in technology and IT risk management on Wall Street.
Alex Waintraub (DFIR Expert, CYGNVS), Chaim Mazal (CSO, Gigamon), and Israel Bryski (CISO, MIO Partners) led the CISO panel, discussing their career trajectories and offering career tips.
Esty Scheiner (InfoSec Engineer, Invoca) gave the evening’s advanced Tech Talk. She discussed Generative AI and the growth of voice-driven fraud as a result.
Shlomi Levinger (CEO, SpareEye) delivered the beginner’s Tech Talk, explaining why Security is multi-layered and introducing newcomers to the various paths in the industry.
Next, the event broke out into roundtable discussions centered on career paths. In addition to the above-mentioned speakers presenting their career paths, Moshe Dovid Klein led a discussion on Entrepreneurship in Cyber Security and Mikhoel Pais led one on Penetration Testing and Security Engineering.
Code Kevudah, an organization dedicated to helping Jewish women break into the Technology field, co-hosted the Women’s Roundtables, with Chaya Tova Chrein representing Software Development.
But the top-notch networking and resources weren’t the only way the conference was noteworthy. The conference exhibited strong Jewish pride, values, and adherence to strict Halacha, showcasing the ability to flourish in the business world without bending an iota from your values.
The conference opened with welcoming words, a thought on Hakhel and the origins of JSEC, and Shofar blowing by organizer Mikhoel Pais as is customary in the month of Elul, leading up to Rosh Hashana. With separate seating throughout the presentations, separate areas for men and women for the interactive roundtable discussions, sushi, appetizers, and BarlChaim’s fancy bar, the event provided a pleasant, dynamic environment while respecting and upholding the community’s standards of modesty. Its success was a big Kiddush Hashem, bolstering Jewish pride in the professional cybersecurity domain.
“This event proved that there is a big interest and a big need for cybersecurity career training and support. We strived to provide each participant, regardless of their experience and background, the tools and connections to be able to start or progress in their career. It was a tremendous beginning, and iy”H it will continue to grow and expand,” Mikhoel said.
If you would like to get involved with JSEC, please reach out to us at www.HackersHakhelCon.com.
A special thank you was given to the event’s sponsors.
- Anash.org, the Con’s incredible Media partner, who marketed our event, featured an article, advertised it as a popup to all their visitors in the days leading up, and sent two (!) photographers throughout the evening to cover all the magic of the event.
- YU Global – Flatiron Cyber Bootcamp, our Educational (Cyber Bootcamp) sponsor with an upcoming program – bringing the famed bootcamp to the locals of Crown Heights. Pretty awesome swag!
- CyberWise Course – Our from-across-the-world Educational (Cyber Course) A live-online, once a week cyber course that partnered and sponsored our event from thousands of miles away, in Israel!
- Tromzo – Our nifty Security Vendor of the event. They offer a very impressive orchestration platform for central vulnerability visibility and automation. We should’ve used the platform to manage all the prep items for the event!
- Chocolatte for offering a free warm coffee to all attendees!
- Alex of CYGNVS (a rich and thorough breach recovery platform) and NJ Cyber Fireside, who literally injected life and laughter into the evening. I think you might be the 1st cyber hacker comedian.
- The numerous individuals that personally pitched in their time and money to make this event possible.
“Thank you all for coming through and making this special event. Can’t wait for the next one,” Mikhoel said.
N’shei Readers: Click here to see pictures of the women’s program.
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