Driving through the quiet, endless beauty of the Nevada desert, I let the raspy voice of Jim Morrison carry me forward. “The End” played as the final song before I crossed into Las Vegas, a haunting yet strangely perfect soundtrack to mark the end of calm and the beginning shift into pure vibrance. It felt symbolic, closing out the stillness of the desert just as I stepped into the pulse of the city and immersed myself in the energy that awaited me at the Mandalay Bay.
Black Hat 2025 really took that vibrant energy and ran with it, transforming every moment into an unforgettable mix of connection, innovation and Vegas excitement!
Seemplicity Sets the Tone
The conference opened up not with slides, but with squats! Before the keynotes began and expo hall opened, I joined Seemplicity for their Women in Cyber Wake Up & Weight Train event at Envy Training, a woman-owned fitness studio right in Las Vegas. It was forty five minutes of pure grit, the cardio burst in between the strength training created the kind of sweat that wakes you up faster than any caffeine product ever could. Afterward, with racing hearts and minds full of endorphins we refueled with a nourishing breakfast from local favorite, Baby Birds Cafe. More importantly, we connected, women from across cybersecurity came together not just to train muscle but to strengthen the community!
That balance of connection and intensity perfectly reflects Seemplicity itself. Much like the workout, their platform is all about building strength while eliminating wasted motion. Seemplicity transforms vulnerability and exposure management with its AI-powered Remediation Operations dashboard, taking what used to be a slow, manual process and turning it into clear, actionable tasks delivered instantly to the right teams. No more endless handoffs or fragmented workflows, just speed, focus and results.
By streamlining the path from detection to resolution, Seemplicity helps Fortune 500 companies accelerate risk reduction, boost team productivity, and reclaim time that would otherwise be lost in the shuffle. Just as our workout pushed us to move efficiently and powerfully, Seemplicity empowers security, IT, and DevOps teams to turn remediation from a drag into a driver for scalable and resilient security.
ThreatLocker Strengthens the Guard
The week gained momentum at an incredible welcome reception at Irish Pub, Rí Rá, hosted by ThreatLocker. The food was delicious, the drinks were refreshing, and the atmosphere carried an undeniable spark. But what stood out most wasn’t the pints or the appetizers, it was the passion! Every ThreatLocker team member I spoke to was eager to share news of their new configuration model, and the excitement was contagious. When I sat down with CEO Danny Jenkins later in the week, I mentioned just how noticeable that passion was.
During our interview, Jenkins walked me through their new Defense Against Configuration (DAC) platform, which performs 170 automated checks per endpoint every day. From firewalls to windows settings, this platform flags misconfigurations and guides administrators step-by-step through remediation. It’s not just about spotting weaknesses but actually empowering teams with a clear roadmap to fix them.
This approach comes to life in their dashboard, which gives organizations real time visibility into posture, criticality trends, and adherence to frameworks like NIST. Jenkins put it simply “Everyone else is trying to find the bad guys. We don’t let them in to begin with.”
That philosophy was echoed across ThreatLocker’s booth demos and Jenkins’ keynote on Simplifying Cybersecurity. Instead of chasing attackers in an endless game of catching them, ThreatLocker focuses on making default denial practical and powerful for enterprises.
Booths That Stole the Show
The expo floor opened on Wednesday and it was incredible to see the creativity each company brought to life.
D3 Security pulled me in with their temporary tattoo station, where I added a fiery cyber design to finish off my left arm sleeve. I stayed to learn more about their newest platform, Morpheus AI, which investigates and triages alerts in record time. It was the perfect mix of fun and functionality, showing how they could simultaneously grab attention on the floor, while also tackling one of the biggest challenges in security, alert overload.
Torq went full throttle with their bold branding, putting the legendary Grave Digger monster truck on display right at their booth. While the photo ops were a hit, what stood out most was their HyperSOC, an AI-powered system built to hyperautomate security operations. They managed to combine big, eye-catching visuals with ingenuity that will shift modern operations in the SOC space.
And then came a surprise twist, Wallarm’s booth felt more like a history lesson than a pitch. They created a Cybersecurity Museum filled with artifacts like the Enigma machine and Navajo code radios, walking visitors through the evolution of digital defense. It was a clever and creative way to connect the past with their current mission of protecting APIs, turning their booth into an experience rather than just a stop.
The evening was spent in splendor, starting off at the Splunk AfterParty at Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders. The event combined behind-the-scenes stadium tours, signature drinks and plenty of networking opportunities. It gave attendees a chance to connect in a unique and unforgettable setting.
Splunk also tied the event back to what they were showcasing on the Black Hat floor, including their SURGe team’s newly released Threat Hunter’s Cookbook. Splunk helps security teams cut through alert overload by transforming data into clarity and actionable insight. It was a perfect blend of Vegas spectacle and Splunk’s core mission.
Push Security Takes Identity to New Heights
The night ended on a remarkable note with Push Security, who took their Black Hat presence into the skies. Before boarding a helicopter to soar above the neon lights of Las Vegas, I found myself chatting with Mike Spitz from Push. What started as a casual conversation quickly turned into an eye opening dive into identity security. Mike described Push Security as “EDR at the browser”, a platform built to detect and stop attacks in real time, right where credentials live.
Founded by red team veterans, Push is research driven and laser focused on stopping attackers before they gain a foothold. Instead of waiting for a compromise, their technology plugs directly into the browser to monitor logins, password health and identity behavior, catching signs of stolen or reused credentials before they spiral into breaches. Their message at Black Hat echoed this mission, with new research on phishing evasion techniques and how attackers sidestep traditional defenses like MFA.
The clarity of that approach is perfectly captured in their platform:
The MFA phishing kit timeline and blast radius visualization shows how Push maps the ripple effects of compromised credentials, making identity risks clear and actionable.
As my helicopter lifted over the Strip, the connection felt obvious. Just as Vegas came into sharp focus from above, Push Security brings unseen identity risks into view for security teams, giving them the power to stop attacks mid-flight. It was great to experience such an adventurous event, while also learning about a great company.
Kate Keuhn Inspires
Black Hat ended on the brightest note with Kate Keuhn, Vice President of Global Advocacy at WWT. With nearly three decades of experience, Kate has worn many hats including CISO, CEO, Board Director and more. She has been at the forefront of pivotal industry shifts, from some of the earliest DDoS and SaaS projects to the first major cyberattacks on the financial sector. At Black Hat, her influence was unmistakable. She moderated the closing panel on AI’s impact on digital risk alongside Jen Easterly, Anand Raghavan, and Bartley Richardson. In a defining moment of recognition, she was honored with the Cybersecurity Women Lifetime Achievement Award from the United Cybersecurity Alliance. Congratulations again Kate! What a celebration to not just her past contribution but to the path she continues to shape.
When I sat down with her, Kate brought a rare light to the conversation around AI, centered with optimism and grounded in experience. She reminded me that AI is not new but has been evolving for over 70 years. What truly matters, she emphasized, is how responsibly we apply it. She deftly debunked the “rise of the machine” narrative, offering a perspective that was both refreshing and reassuring to hear. In her words, AI is subservient to people, not the other way around. Humans will continue to be indispensable during this new era of generative AI, because our creativity and critical thinking remain irreplaceable.
When asked about advocacy, Kate defined it as helping leaders cut through the noise, balancing opportunity with risk, and moving beyond the myth of a magic pill solution. A story she shared stuck with me. During an early data center hack in London, her mentor reminded her that the real danger often comes not from what attackers take, but what they leave behind. For Kate, it was a lesson that still holds true today. Too many failures stem from underestimating the human factor. By investing even a little more focus on the human element, we don’t just safeguard infrastructure, we strengthen the most imperative piece that holds our digital world together.
Meeting Kate was a vivid reminder of what truly anchors this sector. Her grace and authenticity were a perfect close to Black Hat. If the heart of cybersecurity lies in people, then moments like this prove it.
Farewell from Vegas
As I enjoyed a lovely meal at Lago with my even lovelier team, the Eiffel Tower of the Paris Hotel shimmered across the blue waters of the Bellagio fountains. Each dance of light reflected the brilliance of the week. From meeting inspiring leaders, to sunrise workouts, to nights under stadium lights, to helicopter rides that lifted perspectives, I carry the pulse of an industry alive with vision. Every moment was a reminder that this technical landscape is as much about human connection as it is about digital defense.
I am grateful to Cyber Defense Magazine for sponsoring this unforgettable experience, and to our CEO and Publisher, Gary Miliefsky, for championing voices like mine and uplifting women in cybersecurity.
So with gratitude in my heart and the lights of Las Vegas fading behind me, and Pepe Le Pew somewhere in the back of my mind…au revoir, until next time!
About the Author
Angela Apolinar is a Reporter for Cyber Defense Magazine and a Women in Cybersecurity scholarship recipient. She is pursuing a Master’s in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance at Western Governors University and holds a B.A. in Psychology from California State University, Fullerton. Angela has earned multiple certifications in IT, networking, and cyber defense. At her college, she became the first female president of the Computer Science and Cybersecurity Club, where she led workshops, hosted industry speakers, and created inclusive learning opportunities. She also serves as a Cyber Mentor and Professor’s Assistant at Cypress College, supporting the next generation of cybersecurity students.
Angela has contributed to multiple NASA programs, including the L’SPACE Mission Concept Academy, where she supported mission assurance, software design, and outreach for a simulated Aerobot mission to Venus. Most recently, she completed NASA’s Aerospace Scholars Program at Armstrong Flight Research Center, serving as Systems Engineer for a team researching solutions to reduce noise pollution in Advanced Air Mobility. Reach her at [email protected].
