A bit about us

BSides Brisbane was founded by joshua1909 and bman013 because Brisbane needed a room where the technical work could actually get airtime. Not a sales floor. Not a four-track slog with a vendor hall eating the hallway. A Saturday for people who break things, build defences, and still want to talk about how it really works.

We have been running since 2019. The talks go deep. Live hacks, exploit chains, detection engineering, hardware on the bench, policy that has to survive contact with production. If the slide deck could have been a brochure, it does not belong here.

The room is still mixed on purpose. Students next to incident responders. First-time speakers next to people who have been doing this for twenty years. That mix is the point. Everyone is welcome to geek out and get better in public.

The underground bit

BSides started as the overflow room. The talks that did not fit the big commercial programme. We are still that event. Community-run, volunteer-crewed, and stubborn about keeping the door cheap enough that the people who do the work can walk in.

You will get discussions, demos, and arguments in the corridor. It will not all be polished. We would be surprised if it was. We will bust our ass so the people on stage have something real to show, the CTF has teeth, and everyone who shows up gets a day that feels like a hacker conference rather than a product tour.

Our vision

We never wanted the overloaded schedule that leaves you underwhelmed. The vision is still workshops, interactive sessions, and talks with enough technical meat that you leave with something you can use on Monday. Raise the skill floor. Keep the curious in the room. Stay accessible and affordable. Keep the underground vibe alive while the rest of the industry sands the edges off.

Extended thank you

A huge thank you to everyone who has attended or helped run BSides Brisbane over the past few years. A special callout to Jake Dunn (aka Nomad) for the thankless work of running the CTF year on year. Without the people supporting us, there would be no conference.