My experience at Black Hat Asia 2026

I attended Black Hat Asia 2026 in Singapore from April 21–24 at Marina Bay Sands. A clear theme this year was the growing complexity of the threat landscape and how quickly AI-driven warfare is evolving. A lot of sessions focused on real-world exploitation and practical ways to strengthen defenses.

From an OpenSSL perspective, I would highlight the talk “Breaking the Illusion of Key Zeroization: How OS, Libraries, and Hardware Keep Your AES Keys Alive” by Toyofumi Sawa | Ph.D. Candidate, Institute of Information Security and Kuniyasu Suzaki | Professor, Institute of Information Security, which uses OpenSSL as a reference cryptographic stack to evaluate key handling and verify whether it zeroizes key material under various conditions and events.

I attended the panel discussion “Community as a Service: Scaling Cybersecurity Through Ecosystems,” moderated by Rowena Lee, where I appreciated the strong emphasis on delivering immediate, tangible benefits for all stakeholders. After the session, I had the opportunity to meet and have a pleasant conversation with her; she kindly arranged a follow-up meeting and a photo with Emil Tan, co-founder of Division Zero, the organization behind Black Hat Asia and a key part of the Singapore cybersecurity community. Emil also serves as President of the Association of Information Security Professionals (AiSP), advisor to CREST, and Chief Community Officer at Red Alpha Cybersecurity.

Overall, attending Black Hat Asia and my first contact with the Singapore cybersecurity community was a very positive and rewarding experience. The OpenSSL Library is a project with unparalleled global impact on cryptographic algorithms and secure transport protocols, forming an integral part of critical infrastructure and often standing on the front line of defense. Precisely because of this role, I believe that expanding the community through ecosystems, while encouraging greater collaboration and meaningful contributions to the open systems that underpin it, makes strong sense.