BSidesNYC

What BSidesNYC does

BSidesNYC is a 100% volunteer-organized annual information security conference held at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, founded in 2016. The event serves security professionals, researchers, students, entrepreneurs, and executives through multiple parallel technical tracks — Red Team, Blue Team, Other Technical, and Entrepreneur — supplemented by hands-on Villages, multiple Capture The Flag competitions of varying difficulty, and a structured Call for Papers process managed via the Sessionize platform. Attendance has scaled to over 1,000 expected attendees at the 0x06 edition scheduled for October 17, 2026, with 58+ speakers delivering 45+ hours of content.

The organization's leadership team comprises senior security practitioners from companies including Block, Check Point, Two Sigma, and NYU Tandon School of Engineering, lending the event significant practitioner credibility. BSidesNYC operates as a community-driven initiative with no external investment, no parent company, and no traditional ownership structure. Its stated mission is to keep information free and accessible, which shapes its open, community-led operating model.

The business model is sponsorship-driven rather than ticket- or product-driven. Revenue derives from tiered sponsorship packages (Gigabit, Megabit, and Kilobit levels), and the organization explicitly aims to keep attendance free for participants. The Internet Society provides video streaming and archiving support, enabling global content distribution beyond the in-person New York audience. No financial figures — revenue, funding, or budget — are disclosed, and the organization has no patents, no proprietary technology product, no AI/ML capabilities, and no app or digital platform of its own.

Name

BSidesNYC

Legal name

BSidesNYC

Website

https://bsidesnyc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

BSidesNYC is a 100% volunteer-organized annual information security conference in New York City serving security professionals, researchers, students, and entrepreneurs through technical tracks, hands-on Villages, and CTF competitions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Conference Operations: BSidesNYC is a 100% volunteer-organized, community-driven conference. As a nonprofit community event, the primary revenue appears to come from sponsorship packages (Gigabit, Megabit, Kilobit tiers) rather than ticket sales or product revenue. The organization states it strives to keep information free, suggesting free or low-cost attendance for participants.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

BSidesNYC is an annual, 100% volunteer-organized information security conference held at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. The event delivers three technical tracks (Red Team, Blue Team, Other) plus an Entrepreneur track, alongside hands-on Villages and multiple Capture The Flag (CTF) competitions. The organization also runs a Call for Papers (CFP) process to source speakers from the global security community.

Product overview

BSidesNYC is a 100% volunteer-organized annual information security conference dedicated to keeping information free. The event features a main conference with multiple technical tracks (Red Teams, Blue Teams, Other content) plus an Entrepreneur track, supplemented by hands-on Villages hosting activities, demos, and workshops, and multiple Capture The Flag competitions with varying difficulty levels. The organization also runs a Call for Papers process accepting submissions for speaking tracks, workshops, and entrepreneurial content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BSidesNYC Annual Conference Annual one-day information security conference featuring three technical tracks (Red Teams, Blue Teams, Other content) plus an Entrepreneur track, with 1000+ attendees, 45+ hours of content, and 58+ speakers across five parallel tracks plus villages. Held at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York.
• Villages Open spaces divided by topic that host hands-on activities, demos, and workshops throughout the conference, offering a less formal alternative to standard tracks and opportunities to socialize and make community contacts.
• Capture The Flag (CTF) Competitions Multiple Capture The Flag competitions with varying levels of technical depth, allowing participants to test and develop their security skills during the conference.
• Sponsorship Packages Tiered sponsorship offerings (Gigabit, Megabit, Kilobit) that allow security vendors and companies to support the community conference and engage directly with attendees through booth presence.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Internet SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Internet Society provides video streaming and archiving support for BSidesNYC conference content. The Internet Society supports and promotes the development of the Internet as a global technical infrastructure and expressed gratitude for their ongoing support of streaming conference content.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ShellCon: Los Angeles-area volunteer-driven security conference sharing BSidesNYC's community-first, multi-track, hands-on format and grassroots operating model.
• THOTCON: Chicago-based community-run information security conference with similar volunteer organization, single-day format, multiple tracks, and free/low-cost community access model.
• CircleCityCon: Indianapolis-based volunteer-organized security conference that, like BSidesNYC, runs a community-driven event with multiple tracks, villages, and CTF components aimed at practitioner education.
• BSides Las Vegas: Flagship BSides chapter held annually in Las Vegas alongside DEF CON; operates the same 100% volunteer, community-driven, free-information conference model as BSidesNYC, making it the closest structural peer in the global BSides network.
• BSides San Francisco: Another direct BSides chapter using the same volunteer-driven, multi-track, sponsorship-funded format as BSidesNYC; highly comparable in scale, mission, and operating model.

Broad incumbents

• DEF CON: The largest community-rooted hacker conference; overlapping audience (security researchers, red teamers, CTF competitors) but operates at vastly greater scale with paid infrastructure and a multi-track village model.
• SANS Institute: Operates paid security training events (SANS conferences, DFIR/Cyber Defense summits) that target the same practitioner audience as BSidesNYC, but as a commercial training provider rather than a volunteer community event.
• Black Hat: Premier paid enterprise security conference with USA/Asia/Europe editions; competes for the same security practitioner and sponsor dollars as BSidesNYC, though at a much larger, commercially operated scale.
• RSA Conference: The largest enterprise cybersecurity conference, attracting the same CISO/sponsor audience that BSidesNYC targets through its Entrepreneur track, though at vastly larger scale and ticket prices.

Emerging players

• OWASP Global AppSec: Application-security-focused community conference series; overlapping practitioner audience with BSidesNYC's Other Technical and Blue Team tracks, particularly around secure development and AppSec research.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BSidesNYC