I took a day out from the grind this week and attended the first day of the DTX Manchester conference. It was my first time attending this particular conference, despite having the opportunity to attend in the past. The venue is one I’ve been to many times, mostly for music concerts back in the day - although it’s now called Manchester Central, it will always be the G-Mex to me. I was excited for the day ahead, the weather was glorious, and hopefully Northern Rail wouldn’t spoil the occasion.

What I got up to

I arrived while the keynote was taking place; no disrespect to Dame Laura Kenny, who I have watched dominate track cycling for over a decade, but my primary focus for the day was all the cybersecurity things, and it gave me the opportunity to navigate the vendors stalls without too much foot traffic.

I stopped and chatted with many of the vendors, especially the ones who had offerings I’m currently focusing on exploring further. I’m naturally shy and introverted, but I was able to maintain my extrovert façade long enough to pick up a ThreatLocker t-shirt and a water bottle from the Sky stand - I also got a picture with the Ryder Cup (it wasn’t very flattering, so I’ll share the one without me in it).

Photograph of the Ryder Cup

I also picked up a free drinks token from one of the vendors, but unfortunately lost it as I moved between stalls. It was slightly awkward trying to find it before resigning myself to paying for my own drink - a first world problem I know. I probably should have kept it in a secure place 🤦‍♂️

Once I’d at least observed every stall, and my social energy was diminishing, I set about revising my list of talks I’d prepared the night before to go and watch.

Identity Security in a Borderless Digital World

Photograph of Ray Manash talk slides on the big screen at DTX, showing the various forms of identity that businesses have to manage

First up was Ray Manash from ManageEngine, he focused on the challenges that modern businesses are having with managing identities. With a brief history of identity, and how we’ve evolved into the position we find ourselves today, Ray describes it as an “identity crisis”, and I tend to agree with all of his observations.

It was an engaging talk, and although there were multiple technical issues, Ray navigated all the hurdles to make me a keen observer of the ManageEngine platform and how it will develop in the future. The free coffee token was much appreciated too, which I exchanged for a trendy flat white at the front entrance (I didn’t lose this one).

Breaking free from SIEM: The future of AI-driven security operations

Photograph of Brad Freeman and his slides on the big screen at DTX, the slide shows a meme relating to SIEM tooling choices, and how we're lured in by freebies

Next up was Brad Freeman from SenseOn, and his talk focused on the common plight of exponential growth in log data and how that correlates with the cost of SIEMs tools which operate a data volume pricing model. His talk was full of informative data alongside the best memes of the day. He did a great job of presenting the very real pains of the SIEM, SOAR, managed SOC option, and of selling the benefits of the SenseOn platform. I went away wanting to give the platform a spin, hopefully it’s something I can gain exposure to in the future.

The CISO's guide to the galaxy: Cyber leadership in a mad, mad world

This talk was presented by Stuart Caulson from the University of Manchester, and I unfortunately forgot to take any pictures. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Terry Pratchett references went over my head completely, but it was nice to sit and listen to something a little different to the usual tech talks I seek out. I’ll be honest I chose this talk as the others at this time were “fireside chats”, and I’m not really a fan of that format.

My key takeaways were the role of the CISO being centred around an accessible security culture, and to have the business acumen to talk with executives about the security program in language they understand. Tell a story in the language the audience speaks. It wasn’t lost on me that I didn’t speak the language of the referenced literature, but despite me being uncultured it was a really engaging talk and an insight into the disconnect between the tech department and the business, and how effective communication is essential.

Closing the security visibility gap: Tackling blind spots and unknown threats

A photograph of the ThreatAware slides on the screen at DTX, with Jon and Andy discussing the benefits of the ThreatAware platform

This talk was presented by the owner of ThreatAware Jon Abbott and a customer representative from THG Andy Jackson. Although it was a sales pitch for the ThreatAware product, I gained some interesting insights into how ThreatAware can detect and remediate the misconfiguration of endpoint security tools. It also sounds like a great product for companies that have a large number of acquisitions, as you can simply point your existing configuration at a different EDR tool and it works, without the need for reconfiguration or migration to a single tenant.

GenAI in cybersecurity: Practical applications for smarter threat detection and defence

Photograph of Graham Thomson and one of his slides on the big screen at DTX, where he is discussing the different types of AI

This was my favourite talk of the day. Graham Thomson from Irwin Mitchell provided insight into the AI landscape and how we can leverage AI to make improvements across all pillars of security. It was an added bonus that he was the only talk of the day who wasn’t trying to sell anything, he just wanted to share all the cool things and I enjoyed every minute.

I’m not ashamed to say I’ve been late to the party with AI, it was a conscious choice I made to not invest too early in a field which was quickly adapting. I feel the right time for me to jump in and start my own journey with AI is now, and this talk was filled with gems that had ideas popping into my head long after the talk had concluded, and I can’t wait to get started.

Expect some AI related blog posts in the future!

Summary of my time at DTX Manchester

There were a few talks I missed that I had planned on going to, and a couple that were maybes that I actually went to watch. But, conferences won’t always follow your careful plan, especially when you didn’t plan to eat or drink at any point during the day. I have also omitted a few talks I did attend which I simply got no value from, I didn’t think it would be fair to include them.

Overall I really enjoyed my time at DTX Manchester, I also managed to catch up with a good friend afterwards and went for a drink before the train ride home. I didn’t return for day two, as I’d already got everything I needed from the event, but it’s definitely worth a visit next year if Manchester is easily accessible and you have an interest in Cloud, DevOps, Cybersecurity, or just want a new wardrobe and a bunch of cool branded gadgets.

Thank you Gary Henshall from GH Designs for letting me pinch his photograph for this post.