SecureWorld Financial Services Virtual Conference Fall 2026

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Visit the Networking Hall to network with attendees and connect with our vendor sponsors and association partners.

The barrier to entry for high-level cyber operations has shifted. No longer requiring massive server farms, sophisticated “agentic” threats can now be orchestrated entirely from a single consumer-grade laptop. This session, delivered by a US Secret Service Network Intrusion Forensics Analyst, moves beyond the theory of “AI threats” and into the practical mechanics of how adversaries are using open-source tools to automate the kill chain.

This is a lab-heavy session designed to show you exactly how an adversary builds a local, autonomous hacking station. We will walk through the deployment of an Open Source Large Language Model (LLM) and demonstrate the power of the Model Context Protocol (MCP)—a protocol that serves as the “USB port” for AI, allowing models to interact seamlessly with local files, secure APIs, and system tools.

Attendees will participate in a live walkthrough of:

• Local LLM Deployment: How to run state-of-the-art models (like Llama 3 or Mistral) locally to avoid detection and maintain data privacy.
• The Power of MCP: Using the Model Context Protocol to grant an LLM “hands” (the ability to read logs, query databases, and execute scripts).
• Agentic Workflows: Moving from a simple chatbot to an “Agent” that can reason, plan multi-step attacks, and pivot autonomously based on forensic output.
• Defensive Implications: How to detect and defend against locally hosted, agentic adversarial activity that leaves a minimal network footprint.

This session is designed for security professionals who want to understand the “adversarial edge” of AI.

Most organizations treat cyber risk as a compliance checkbox—but real business resilience requires measurable action. In this session, Dr. Fredrick Dande, PhD, will show IT and business leaders how to transform cyber and IT risk into quantifiable business value.

Attendees will leave with a clear, actionable framework to turn cyber and IT risk into measurable business value and confident decision-making.

Zero Trust is more than a buzzword—it’s a mindset shift that reshapes how organizations protect assets. In this session, digital transformation and cybersecurity expert Amy Yee presents a clear, actionable roadmap for adopting Zero Trust. You’ll explore foundational principles and organizational drivers, learn how to assess maturity and identify quick wins, and understand common pitfalls—like fragmented identity policies—before they derail your progress.

Amy dives into key ingredients: identity security, supply chain resilience, essential cross-team conversations, and navigating blockers/enablers. Packed with real-world examples and practical exercises, this talk will leave CISOs, IT leaders, and security teams equipped to design, implement, and sustain a Zero Trust strategy that scales with business needs.

Visit the Networking Hall to network with attendees and connect with our vendor sponsors and association partners.

The Financial Services sector is living through the greatest digital convergence in history—where AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity are no longer separate disciplines, but interdependent forces shaping how wealth is managed, transactions are executed, and capital is protected. In this new era, your most valuable asset—customer trust and financial data—is under constant threat, not just from cybercriminals targeting your vaults, but from the rapid digitization of your own banking infrastructure.

In this high-impact session, Dr. Eric Cole, former CIA hacker and trusted advisor to Fortune 100 CEOs, exposes the critical blind spots financial institutions face as they race to adopt Fintech innovations and migrate legacy systems to the cloud—often without a coherent data protection strategy. You’ll discover how attackers are exploiting this convergence to bypass traditional fraud controls, how AI is both a weapon for sophisticated financial crimes and a shield for defense, and why the cloud isn’t inherently secure for sensitive financial records—unless you make it so.

Whether you’re a CEO, CISO, or banking leader, this session will empower you with actionable frameworks to:

• Understand how AI and cloud reshape the cyber threat landscape for banks, insurers, and investment firms.
• Identify financial data exposure risks that live outside your control—and how to maintain sovereignty over critical assets.
• Shift from a legacy perimeter model to identity- and data-centric security to protect the modern financial ecosystem.
• Build an AI-aware security posture that accelerates—not blocks—Fintech innovation and algorithmic advantage.
• Win the new war for data ownership, visibility, and control in a highly regulated global market.

The convergence is already here. The question is, are you investing in resilience, or banking on luck?

The cybersecurity talent market is officially on the clock. As AI-driven threats—from agentic malware to deepfake identity deception—move from theory to the frontline, the demand for AI-fluent defenders has reached a fever pitch. But which skills carry a first-round pedigree, and which are just pre-season hype?

In this high-energy session, join “Commissioner” Charles Hartley for the ultimate AI Cybersecurity Career Draft. Based on extensive research from TIAA’s Cybersecurity Awareness Team, we rank the Top 10 “franchise-player” skills—including Adversarial ML, Agentic Governance, and LLM Auditing—that are redefining the SOC.

Whether you’re a veteran or a rookie, you’ll leave with a professional scouting report on the most in-demand competencies and a winning playbook to secure your spot on the industry’s elite roster.

With the next pick in the AI career draft… will you be the one to change the game?

Session details to come.

Visit the Networking Hall to network with attendees and connect with our vendor sponsors and association partners.

For years, the relationship between security leadership and finance has been defined by a fundamental “language barrier.” While the CISO talks in vulnerabilities and threat vectors, the CFO thinks in terms of ROI, capital allocation, and fiscal resilience. This session moves beyond the myth that “security is too expensive” to address the real issue: a lack of shared vocabulary. Join a veteran vCISO and a seasoned CFO for a candid conversation on how to align technical requirements with business objectives. Attendees will learn how to transform security metrics into financial risk data that commands boardroom respect and secures long-term investment. The problem isn’t the budget; it’s the dictionary.

In the financial sector, trust is the primary currency—and it is currently under siege from within and without. In 2026, the “real-world” threats are no longer just external attacks; they are the sophisticated exploitation of trusted relationships. From AI-enhanced Business Email Compromise (BEC) that mimics executive authority to the “silent” risk of third-party vendor compromises and malicious (or negligent) insider activity, the modern firm’s perimeter is effectively non-existent.

This session provides a pragmatic defense strategy for the 2026 financial landscape. We will move beyond theoretical risks to address the three pillars of operational resilience: hardening the “Identity Perimeter” to neutralize stolen credentials and insider risk, gaining “Deep Observability” to catch lateral movement in encrypted supply-chain traffic, and leveraging “Secure-by-Design” cloud infrastructure to ensure rapid recovery. Attendees will leave with a blueprint for protecting transaction integrity and customer privacy against the threats that are already inside the gates.

Visit the Networking Hall to network with attendees and connect with our vendor sponsors and association partners.

AI-powered smart home devices continuously collect, analyze, and transmit voice, behavioral, and environmental data to provide seamless personalization. However, as the lines between home and office blur, these
“convenient” consumer devices have become the new soft underbelly of corporate security.

This session explores how AI-driven ecosystems handle sensitive data—from always-on microphones to complex sensor fusion—and identifies the critical failure points in data retention and third-party sharing. We will dive into the “Pivot Risk”: how continuous connectivity and opaque data flows allow privacy threats to follow users from their living rooms directly into the enterprise network. Attendees will gain a practitioner’s perspective on the cascading risks of unintended data inference and learn practical strategies for applying privacy-by-design to protect both personal and professional environments.

Key Takeaways:

• The Household Pivot: How vulnerabilities in consumer AI devices can serve as entry points for broader network lateral movement
• Data Lifecycle Risks: Identifying common privacy failure points in smart home ecosystems, from collection to cloud storage
• The Shadow Perimeter: Understanding the risks of continuous connectivity and how personal data inference impacts corporate privacy postures
• Risk Assessment: Practical approaches for evaluating the privacy footprint of AI-enabled devices in remote-work environments
• Privacy-by-Design: Applying rigorous architectural principles to mitigate data leakage in consumer-grade technology

The line between a digital threat and a physical attack has officially vanished. From the targeted murder of executives to “Violence-as-a-Service,” the digital footprint is no longer just a trail of data—it is a measurable pathway toward intended harm. In this session, former FBI Profiler Cameron Malin introduces the concept of Cyber Violence, exploring how physical atrocities are now enabled, rehearsed, and amplified through digital systems.

Attendees will get an inside look at Digital Behavioral Criminalistics (DBC), a revolutionary forensic discipline that merges behavioral science with digital forensics. Learn how to reconstruct user thought processes and identify the “pre-attack” indicators hidden within digital media before the threat transitions from the screen to the street.

Visit the Networking Hall to network with attendees and connect with our vendor sponsors and association partners.