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What we’re about

Simply put CorkSec is a monthly meetup (running since 2013) for anyone interested in Information Security in the Munster region (primarily Cork). Regardless of whether you identify yourself as an InfoSec Professional, a Hacker, a Researcher, a Student or just someone with an interest in breaking things to see how they work / stopping people breaking things to see how they work - all are welcome, and please invite your like-minded friends. Joining any meetup for the first time can off course be daunting, so have a look below at the "Joining for the first time section"

CorkSec is modeled on the idea of a DefCon Group - In fact its got an official Defcon Group code of DC35321.  The ideas behind a Defcon Group embodied a lot of what we want to achieve with CorkSec:

  • Meetings are open to anyone, regardless of their skill, age, job, gender, etc
  • Meetings are designed to help you learn new things, meet new people, mentor others in areas you may be strong in, and provide some cohesion within the security/hacker culture and it's members
  • Each meeting will have 1-2 technical talks given by local members of the Cork security/hacker community with occasional guest speakers . You can see past talks on the Wiki section of CorkSec.com

In particular we'd like to draw attention to Defcon FAQs answer for "Is this a Hacker Meeting?":

  • No, this is something better. Anything with the "hacker" label on it tends attract only one kind of person. This meeting is designed to attract not only hackers but members of the InfoSec community and people who want to learn more about InfoSec but do not consider themselves hackers. The purpose here is to interact with people who may have different backgrounds but share the same passion for technology. Many security people feel that hackers are nothing but trouble and many hackers feel that security people are clueless. Those generalizations are often made in error and we'd like to bring all techno-dweebs back under a single umbrella.

Lastly - be sure to subscribe to emails from the group. There is maybe 1 a week max, but we also share out info of new Security roles or Events in the Munster region. You can also contact us on [email protected]

So come on down and enjoy!

Joining for the first time? =======================
We understand that joining any new social gathering of people you don't know can be daunting, and adding an unknown venue on top does not help. To help you settle in and feel welcome, and to encourage you to come in the first place - here is some useful information:

  • Thanks to the generous sponsorship from our **Silver Sponsors Trend Micro **and CyberSkills , as well as our Bronze Sponsors eSentire CorkSec has great venue, The Pav near the center of town. We have the entire large upstairs space of the venue to ourselves on the night. The upstairs area features a stage, bar, and plenty of sitting areas allowing people to either come together or keep to themselves. Lighting is soft and not overly brightly lit. Sound is also not loud, there is no background music so its only the presenters microphone or people chatting. You can see a pictures of the venue on https://thepav.ie/gallery/ and CorkSec 124. Some of the other pictures in our Photos section are from previous venues.
  • On a normal night we will have between 20-50 people, with numbers lower in the Summer months. It is always a mix of people who are regular attendees, some less frequent, and some coming for the first time (like yourself!)
  • If coming for the first time, why not come up to one of the 3 organisers - Bob, Maurice or Paul. We will normally be up at the front organising things and you can find our LinkedIn details below so you can recognise us. We are happy to chat and help you join in, or introduce you to people.
  • You are free to join any table, either on your own or we can introduce you to others. Remember everyone there has a similar interest, so do a simple introduction and you will fast be chatting to a new interesting person.
  • Don't worry if the talk subjects sound daunting and out of your technical level - thats perfectly fine. We have a very varied group, so it's perfectly normal to arrive and maybe only understand some of the topic. But the next time you come there will be a bit more you learn and so on. We also mix up talks so we have ones pitched at different levels
  • Doors open at 19:00 and we normally start about 19:10. They run about 30-40 mins each, with a 15 minute break in the middle. People can get up at any time if they want to get a drink, movement break, or if you wish to leave - so no pressure!

Organisers: ===========

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