Best Talks at DistrictCon 2026 (Year 1)

1. 1

   From protecting a country to security guard in a bookshop

   Ian Levy

   In his DistrictCon keynote, "From protecting a country to security guard in a bookshop," Ian Levy delivers a provocative and deeply critical "rant" about the state of the cybersecurity industry. Drawing on over 25 years at GCHQ, where he established the UK's National Cyber…

   0 Dr. Zero MUST SEE ★★★★★ H Heather Calloway STRONG ACCEPT ★★★★☆
2. 2

   A 0-click exploit chain for the Pixel 9

   Natalie Silvanovich, Seth Jenkins

   This talk, presented by Google Project Zero's Natalie Silvanovich and Seth Jenkins, meticulously details a **zero-click exploit chain** targeting the Google Pixel 9. The presentation unveils two critical vulnerabilities – a heap overflow in the Dolby Digital Plus (DD+) audio…

   0 Dr. Zero MUST SEE ★★★★★ H Heather Calloway STRONG ACCEPT ★★★★☆
3. 3

   Broken Trust: Firmware Bypass Chains, BMC Persistence, and EDR Evasion

   Alex Matrosov, Fabio Pagani

   This talk, "Broken Trust: Firmware Bypass Chains, BMC Persistence, and EDR Evasion," delivered by Binarly's CEO and Founder Alex Matrosov and Vulnerability Research Lead Fabio Pagani, delves into the critical and often-overlooked vulnerabilities within the **firmware**…

   0 Dr. Zero MUST SEE ★★★★★ H Heather Calloway STRONG ACCEPT ★★★★☆
4. 4

   When Security Products Become the Target

   Aviv Yahav

   In this insightful talk titled "When Security Products Become the Target," Aviv Yahav, a Vulnerability Researcher at NGO Research, delves into the critical and often overlooked area of attacking security appliances. Specifically, Yahav presents his research on Fortinet's…

   0 Dr. Zero STRONG ACCEPT ★★★★☆ H Heather Calloway STRONG ACCEPT ★★★★☆
5. 5

   Making Myself at Chrome: Stealthy Local Backdoors for Signal, 1Password, Slack, and more

   Darius Houle

   In this DistrictCon talk, Darius Houle, a Senior Application Security Engineer at Trail of Bits, unveils a critical vulnerability he discovered within the **Electron framework**. The presentation, titled "Making Myself at Chrome," meticulously details how a seemingly secure…

   0 Dr. Zero STRONG ACCEPT ★★★★☆ H Heather Calloway STRONG ACCEPT ★★★★☆
6. 6

   Your AI Is Only as Smart as Your Decompiler: Binary Hacking in the Age of LLMs

   Zion Leonahenahe Basque

   In the rapidly evolving landscape of cybersecurity, Large Language Models (LLMs) are demonstrating unprecedented capabilities in code analysis and vulnerability remediation. However, their true potential often remains untapped when confronted with binary-only software, a common…

   0 Dr. Zero STRONG ACCEPT ★★★★☆ H Heather Calloway STRONG ACCEPT ★★★★☆
7. 7

   One bit (on the mainframe) to rule them all

   Jake Labelle

   In this insightful talk from DistrictCon, Jake Labelle, a Security Researcher at Broadcom, delves into the intricate world of mainframe security, specifically focusing on the **z/OS** operating system. Labelle, leveraging his background as both an external consultant and an…

   0 Dr. Zero STRONG ACCEPT ★★★★☆ H Heather Calloway STRONG ACCEPT ★★★★☆
8. 8

   Auths Gone Wild: When ‘Authenticated’ Means Anyone

   Danielle Aminov

   In "Auths Gone Wild: When ‘Authenticated’ Means Anyone," Danielle Aminov, a threat researcher at Wiz, unveils a pervasive and often overlooked security blind spot in cloud environments. Collaborating with Yara Shreiki, Aminov's research exposes how critical cloud resources…

   0 Dr. Zero SOLID ★★★☆☆ H Heather Calloway STRONG ACCEPT ★★★★☆

View all talks at DistrictCon 2026 (Year 1) →