Michael Farnum and Phillip Wylie

The Microsoft offices in downtown Houston initialized something in 2010 that its founders never intended to scale. Michael Farnum and his team triggered a regional conference with 120 attendees, built for the Texas cyber community. No grand ambitions. No national aspirations. Just a gathering for people who knew each other, wanted to learn together, and could afford to show up without corporate sponsorship covering a $2,700 entry fee.Meanwhile, Philip Wylie was running monthly meetups in Denton, traveling constantly, and discovering that building community meant something different than building an audience. The former professional wrestler turned pentester had launched DC940, authored bestselling books, and established himself as a global keynote speaker. But by fall 2024, the logistics became unsustainable. He stepped down from his DefCon group leadership role.That same night, walking away from the venue, an idea crystallized. The Dallas-Fort Worth area housed one of the world's largest cybersecurity communities, yet lacked a proper hacker conference. So Wylie sent a text message to Farnum. No expectations beyond advice. Within weeks, they had formalized a partnership that would bring CyberHackCon to the Plano Event Center, the same venue that hosted DalHackCon two decades earlier.What started as Houston's 15-year regional experiment had evolved into a national conference ecosystem. Companies were bypassing Black Hat and RSA entirely, sending whole teams to what was becoming CyberSecCon instead. The infrastructure now includes youth programs, executive events, OT-focused conferences, media arms, venture advisory, and nonprofit partnerships. Five full-time employees orchestrate an operation that refuses to gate its primary educational content behind paywalls, maintains community as the entry point for everything, and somehow preserves the feel of a high school reunion even as it approaches 400 attendees.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Building Community in Cybersecurity

05:15 The Evolution of HusekCon to CyberSecCon

12:00 The CyberSec Community Ecosystem

20:14 Introducing Cyber Hack Con

29:04 Call for Papers: Seeking Deep Tech Talks

32:20 Engagement and Community Involvement

33:44 Conference Experiences: Big vs. Small

39:03 Post-Conference Content and Accessibility

40:48 Creative Concepts: Cybersecurity-Themed Bar Ideas

SYMLINKS

[CyberSecCon] - https://www.cybrseccon.com/ Official website of CyberSecCon, a community-driven cybersecurity conference focused on accessibility, education, and bringing together professionals across all experience levels.

[CyberSec Media] - https://www.cybrsecmedia.com/ Media platform that publishes cybersecurity talks, videos, and educational content from CyberSecCon and related community initiatives, available for free access.

[DEF CON] - https://defcon.org/ One of the world’s largest and most well-known hacker conferences, recognized for its deep technical content, hands-on learning, and strong hacker culture.

[Michael Farnum – LinkedIn] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mfarnum Professional profile of Michael Farnum, cybersecurity leader and co-founder of CyberSecCon, where he shares insights on community building and industry initiatives.

[Phillip Wylie – LinkedIn] - https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillipwylie Professional profile of Phillip Wylie, penetration tester, instructor, and keynote speaker with extensive experience in cybersecurity and community mentorship.