Security on a Shoestring: A Low-Budget Security Revival Tour
Jared Casner
BSidesSF 2026 · Day 2 · AMC Theatre 10
In "Security on a Shoestring: A Low-Budget Security Revival Tour," Jared Casner, co-founder of Blacksmith Infosac, delivers a pragmatic and actionable guide for startups and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to establish robust security programs without the luxury of enterprise-level budgets. The talk is a revival of a presentation Casner first gave six years prior, updated to reflect the evolving threat landscape and the democratization of security tooling. It's specifically tailored for organizations initiating their security journey, whether driven by customer compliance requirements (like **SOC 2**, **HIPAA**, or **CMMC**) or the inherent need to protect sensitive data and build secure software from day one.
AI review
Competent, well-organized practitioner talk aimed squarely at startups and SMBs that don't yet have a security program — and for that audience, it delivers. Casner knows his lane, the advice is sound, and the budget math at the end is the kind of concrete takeaway most talks never bother to produce. Nothing here will surprise anyone who's been in security for more than two years, but that's not the point.