Hey there 👋,

Gianna here. It has been a whirlwind June and July. I don't know if you're feeling this too, but this might be the summer of intense frantic energy.

Events season is in full throttle. Black Hat is around the corner. A.I. is eating literally everything, and spitting it back to us in useless, useful, or frustratingly almost-useful-why-can't-it-just-work-how-I-want-it-to??? ways. The feeling is further compounded by what we've been seeing from our cyber marketing corner in the world: a rise in both layoffs and hiring. (Reminder: Any security marketer affected is always welcome in the Cybersecurity Marketing Society. We are here for you.)

So my simple question at the top of today's newsletter is: cyber marketer, in this fast and furious season, how can we help you? What can the Cybersecurity Marketing Society start, do more of, or do better to help you in your role, life, and company?

Reply to this email - we would love to hear your ideas, thoughts, and suggestions!

Where will we meet up at Black Hat? Take a quick Black Hat USA Poll

Help us lock in a time and spot for the Cyber Marketing Society’s casual meetup at Black Hat! 👉 Take the 30-second poll  We’ll share the final plans soon.

We’ve got a few other things cooking for Black Hat this year! Gianna will be bringing her mini-mic and recording on-the-fly podcast interviews for Breaking Through in Cybersecurity Marketing! Grab time with her here for a podcast interview or just to meet and catch up!

Additionally, we’re sponsoring the Level Up Party with ZeroFox at Black Hat this year! Hope to see you there - register here!

Members, make sure you’re checking the Black Hat Slack channel!

Intel and opportunities are coming in daily. Everything from trading hotel rooms to insider info to opportunities to split costs on vendors like sharing a testimonial videographer. Here’s the Black Hat Slack channel link.

Don’t you wish you could get professional development and have fun all in one great place? Great news! You can! At CyberMarketingCon, held Dec. 7-10 in Austin, TX & virtually, anywhere you learn from incredible peers and leaders in the cybersecurity GTM field.

If you want to learn from the best, take away relevant and actionable strategies for your work, participate in hands-on AI workshops, make a few friends, AND have a great time, it’s time to sign up.

🎟️ Register Now! 🎟️

Congrats Beautiful Booth Awards Winners!

We’re so delighted to announce the winners of the Beautiful Booth Awards! Congrats to: Torq, SimSpace, Allot Ltd, Armis, Cyera, Vanta, LimaCharlie, Wiz, Rubrik, NINJIO, Mend.io, BeyondTrust, Broadcom, DARKTRACE, Anvilogic, CardinalOps, Insane Cyber, Axur, and ThreatConnect!

Read the blog and see the winning booths here.

Trending News 📰

McDonald’s AI hiring bot exposed millions of applicants’ data.

The password “123456” has reached joke status in sitcoms and memes, but it was a very real flaw in McDonald’s “McHire” software that left personal data vulnerable. (Note from Gianna: Funny enough, a McDonald’s I worked at in the 2000s also used “12345” as a password. They changed it after someone guessed the password!)

The city of Columbus, Ohio invests $23 million in cybersecurity.

Last year a massive ransomware attack rocked the Ohio city. Now it’s investing big money in prevention measures.

A new RaaS group expands operations.

Researches find a new ransomware-as-a-service (Raas) group called GLOBAL GROUP has expanded to Australia, Brazil, Europe, and the U.S. using AI negotiation tools.

Hackers can remotely brake U.S. trains.

Choo! Choo! The hackers are coming. Big vulnerabilities in U.S. rail system puts passengers and cargo at risk. Read more from 404 Media.

Reach Thousands of Cybersecurity Decision-Makers

Gain direct access to 4,000+ cybersecurity professionals, CISOs, and key decision-makers from IT, finance, healthcare, and government by sponsoring ISC2 Security Congress 2025. Hosted by ISC2—the world’s leading member organization for cyber pros, 265,000+ strong and growing.

Learn more about sponsoring here!.

Thanks to our partner ISC2 for sponsoring this ad! Check them out!

[Registration Required] July 23: Join us for our first in-person half day workshop in Newton MA!

This highly interactive workshop is designed for cybersecurity marketing leaders who need to incorporate product marketing functions into their strategy, whether you're hiring your first dedicated product marketer or need to stretch your existing team. Led by Beth Barach, VP of Product Marketing at Corellium and a veteran cybersecurity marketer, this workshop focuses on the three most critical aspects of product marketing that drive business results. Space is limited to ensure individualized attention. Early registration is recommended.

Want face time with security industry analysts? Join us!

On: Wednesday, 5-8 p.m. ET. Riverside Center (Register for the Happy hour)

We'll be talking shop and networking, eating and drinking, centered around marketing, GTM, and cybersecurity!​ Our Security Industry Analyst AMA Panel featuring John Grady and Dave Gruber, who will be available to answer your most burning questions.

From the Community 💌

• Calling all book-lovers!! The first meeting of our virtual book club is next week! Join July 25 at 1 p.m. ET. 📚➡️Sign up today!
• Last month, Aikido Security got the call of a lifetime, President Macron requested to meet with them out of 14,000 applications at Viva Technology in Paris. Watch their hilarious video of them prepping here.
• 🎤 **Speaker Update**: We're blown away by the response! With 300+ speaker submissions (up from 200+ last year), our review process is taking longer than expected. All applicants will hear back by July 20th and receive early bird pricing as a thank you for your patience.
• This week's Breaking Through In Cybersecurity Marketing Podcast episode with Orly Bar Lev is LIVE. It’s about more than hats. It’s the roller coaster story of building an early-stage brand.
• An Update on the Field Marketing Monthly schedule. The July session is cancelled due to schedule craziness, and we will pick back up on August 21st @ 10 am PT. The topic will be around selling ROI to the C-suite. Reply to this email if you want to contribute your experience to the topic.
• VulnCheck announced keynote speakers for THREATCON1 - Jen Easterly and Andrew Boyd, world-renowned cyber and national security leaders.
• Congratulations to Lauren Cranford and the Keep Aware team for being finalists in the Black Hat Startup Spotlight Competition!
• A community member breaks down Kubernetes security through relatable analogies, using the OpenAI outage as a real-world case study. 👉 [Read the blog]
• Looking for ways not to get pwned at Black Hat? Our Slack community has a few suggestions plus read our blog post on how to protect yourself as a marketer here.
• Help a Fellow Member: Richard Mellick is researching content management challenges and needs your input! His anonymous survey explores the pain points of keeping content accurate and consistent across multiple channels. 👉 [Take the survey]

Upcoming events: 📆

• International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS) at Fordham University: July 14-16, 2025 | New York City, NY
• Black Hat USA 2025: August 2-7 | Las Vegas, NV
  • Black Hat Startup Spotlight is also open!
• DEF CON 33: August 8-11 | Las Vegas, NV
• Billington Cybersecurity Summit: September 9-12, Washington, D.C.
• CrowdStrike Fal.Con: September 15-18, Las Vegas, NV
• International Cyber Expo: September 30- October 1, London, UK
• INBOUND 2025: September 3-5, 2025, San Francisco, CA
  

Stuff Worth Reading (Promise)

• Backlinks Are Back: What We Learned From David J. Ebner's 43-Article SEO Experiment - Are backlinks dead? Think again. Using ethical link-building tactics, a cybersecurity agency boosted its Domain Authority by 10 points in 6 months. Plus, get access to the free Cyber Link Exchange community. 👉 Read the blog
• Field Marketing Monthly Recap: Real Strategies for Customer Advisory Boards & User Groups - Beyond check-the-box testimonials: How Dell and Zscaler built Customer Advisory Boards that influence product roadmaps and drive revenue. Plus, the logistics secrets that make or break these high-stakes events. 👉 Read the blog
• 10 Strategic Reasons to Send Your Team to CyberMarketingCon 2025 - Need ammunition for your conference budget request? This post breaks down the real ROI of sending your marketing team to the only event built specifically for cybersecurity marketers, from specialized tracks to hands-on workshops that stick. 👉 Read the blog

Where We’re Meeting Next:

August 6: LEVEL UP with ZeroFox @ Black Hat:

This isn’t just another happy hour. LEVEL UP 2025 is back. ZeroFox is throwing down in Vegas with games, food, drinks, and the cybersecurity crowd you want to hang with. August 6 | 7–10 p.m. PT | Las Vegas. 🎟️ Free with RSVP

July 14: Atlanta Meetup of the Cybersecurity Marketing Society

On: Monday, 5:30-8 pm ET. Hudson Grille Sandy Springs (Meet up)

More info: We’ll be talking shop and focusing on marketing, GTM, and cybersecurity. Expect a fun group icebreaker so you can meet EVERYONE, plus a few war stories from our latest campaigns and most importantly, genuine conversation over drinks and bites.

July 23: [IN-PERSON]Cybersecurity Product Marketing Workshop – with Beth Barach

On: Wednesday, 12-5 p.m. ET.  Newton, MA (Riverside Center)

More Info: Heads of marketing, roll up your sleeves! Beth Barach will lead this in-person, hands-on workshop on mastering product marketing with real-time feedback.

July 23: AMA + Happy Hour with Security Industry Analysts!

On: Wednesday, 5-8 p.m. ET. Riverside Center (Happy hour)

More info: ​We'll be talking shop and networking, centered around marketing, GTM, and cybersecurity!​

Check out the monthly member events calendar! It’s packed with educational programs, networking opportunities, and recurring meetups designed just for you.

Just for laughs: Meme of the Week... 😂

Credit to Amy Heng for the meme!

That’s it for this edition! Thanks for reading!

Don't forget: you're the best! 💪

Have a great weekend!

❤️ Gianna & Maria

PS: This email is written by humans. You can reply to this email. We may not respond to every email, but we read all of them!

Cybersecurity Marketing Society, 501 1st Avenue N #901, St. Petersburg, FL 33701

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