Full Report
So… Black Hat DC is rushing at us like a speeding big… speeding thing. This is just a friendly a reminder about the show (Hyatt Regency Crystal City • February 16-19). We have two courses on offer at the DC show this year – Bootcamp (a highly practical course that teaches method-based hacker thinking, skills and techniques) and Combat (all hack, no talk – our flagship course). One small change to our usual approach this time is that we’re requesting Combat students to bring their own laptops. On Bootcamp and our other courses we provide pre-configured XP boxes but Combat participants are generally already quite experienced and comfortable on their own platforms.
Analysis Summary
# Industry News: SensePost Announces Training Offerings for Black Hat DC 2009
## Summary
SensePost is promoting its specialized hacking training courses, Bootcamp and Combat, ahead of the Black Hat DC 2009 conference scheduled for February 16-19. A notable operational change for the advanced "Combat" course requires participants to bring their own laptops, signaling a shift toward accommodating more experienced practitioners.
## Key Details
- Date: Announced January 07, 2009 (Event: February 16-19, 2009)
- Companies Involved: SensePost, Black Hat Conferences
- Category: Training/Service Announcement
## The Story
SensePost is reminding the cybersecurity community about their training participation at the upcoming Black Hat DC conference. They are offering two distinct courses: "Bootcamp," which focuses on practical, method-based hacking techniques, and "Combat," described as "all hack, no talk," which is their flagship offering for advanced users. For the Combat course specifically, SensePost is deviating from their usual practice of providing pre-configured systems and is instead asking students to use their own laptops, reasoning that Combat participants are typically experienced enough to manage their own platforms.
## Business Impact
### For the Companies Involved
- **SensePost:** This serves as a direct revenue-generating activity linked strongly to a major industry event, reinforcing their brand presence in high-end technical training. The change in laptop requirement may optimize logistical costs for the advanced course.
### For Competitors
- **Training Providers:** SensePost is establishing differentiated value propositions in the intense conference training market by segmenting courses based on experience level and adjusting delivery methods accordingly.
### For Customers
- **Training Attendees:** Customers gain access to focused, hands-on instruction tailored to different skill levels. The requirement for personal laptops in Combat suggests a more high-fidelity, real-world simulation for advanced users.
### For the Market
- **Professional Development:** Highlights the continuing high demand for pragmatic, offensive security skills, often seen as lagging in traditional certification paths.
## Technical Implications
The specific requirement for "Combat" students to bring their own hardware suggests the course content is likely designed to run against the student's current toolsets or operating system configurations, potentially involving proprietary, less standardized environments than the pre-configured XP boxes used for Bootcamp.
## Strategic Analysis
- **Market Positioning:** SensePost positions itself as a provider of hardcore, practical offensive security training, contrasting with potentially more theoretical or compliance-focused training elsewhere. The course structure (Bootcamp vs. Combat) effectively segments the addressable market by skill maturity.
- **Competitive Advantage:** Offering a flagship course that mandates personal hardware for advanced users creates a unique, perhaps more challenging or "authentic," learning environment that appeals to elite practitioners.
- **Challenges:** Relying on student-provided hardware might introduce variability in setup times and initial troubleshooting, which could slightly impact class flow if participants are not adequately prepared.
## Industry Reactions
- **Analyst Opinions:** Analysts often view specialized training from established practitioners like SensePost as leading indicators of emerging attacker methodologies being adopted by the community.
- **Expert Commentary:** The demand for courses like Combat underscores the perennial industry gap between theoretical security knowledge and practical exploitation/defense skills.
- **Market Response:** Strong registration for these courses typically signals industry confidence in the relevance and quality of SensePost's instruction.
## Future Outlook
- **Predictions and Expectations:** The decision to permit personal laptops in the advanced track might become a standard offering for high-level, expert-focused training across the industry if it proves successful and efficient.
- **What to watch for:** Subsequent course announcements may further detail how SensePost accommodates hybrid hardware setups for advanced training environments.
## For Security Professionals
This is a direct opportunity for practitioners to obtain highly specialized, hands-on training in modern offensive techniques. Professionals seeking advanced roles should note the requirement for self-sufficiency regarding their lab environment for the Combat course.