Elbsides Conference 2026
| Conference | Workshops | Call for Presentations | Sponsors | Team |
General Information
Elbsides 2026 will be held on Friday, June 5th, 2026 in Hamburg, Germany.
We are currently looking for sponsors, workshop proposals, and presentation proposals.
Location
The conference will be held at the Hotel Hafen Hamburg in the Elbkuppel, a unique event location in the heart of Hamburg overlooking the harbor. The Elbkuppel has been recently renovated and offers a modern and comfortable setting for our conference.
Follow us
- Mastodon: @elbsides@infosec.exchange
- Bluesky: @elbsides.bsky.social
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/elbsides
Use the hashtag #elbsides2026 to follow the conversation on social media or to post about the conference.
Sponsors
Elbsides cannot exist without sponsors because we are trying to be as inclusive as possible by keeping the ticket price to a nominal charge that doesn’t even start to cover our costs. If you are interested in sponsoring Elbsides 2026, please contact us at elbsides <at> gmail.com.
We encourage sponsors from the local community, even if you are not a security company. In fact, since security is everyone’s concern, we would love to have sponsors from all walks of life.
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Program
| start time | speaker | title |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Conference Opening | |
| 09:15 | Natalie Kilber | Opening Keynote: Secrets don’t age well: Cyber, Kyber, Quantum and the encryption time bombs |
| 09:45 | ||
| 10:15 | ||
| 10:45 | morning break | |
| 11:15 | ||
| 11:45 | ||
| 12:15 | ||
| 12:45 | lunch break | |
| 13:45 | ||
| 14:15 | ||
| 14:45 | ||
| 15:15 | afternoon break | |
| 15:45 | ||
| 16:15 | ||
| 16:45 | ||
| 17:15 | ||
| 17:45 | Conference Closing | |
| 18:00 | Networking Hour |
Speakers
Natalie Kilber
Biography:
Natalie Kilber is a quantum industry pioneer, former enterprise cybersecurity leader and CEO of Haste, securing the future of compute. As a researcher and technology advisor on quantum, AI and cybersecurity; she leads innovations fusing emergent technology defenses for hybrid compute ecosystems.
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hastesec/
-
Website: hastesecurity.com
- Talks:
Talks
Conference Opening
Start time: 09:00
Duration: 00:15
Abstract:
Welcome and housekeeping statements
Opening Keynote: Secrets don’t age well: Cyber, Kyber, Quantum and the encryption time bombs
Start time: 09:15
Duration: 00:45
Abstract:
Quantum is no longer a research topic for us; it is now a benchmark regulators and courts can compare us against. As NIST finalizes quantum‑safe standards and regulators begin referencing them in guidance and sectoral rules, security leaders are expected to manage the emerging cryptographic threats. This talk explains what the quantum threat really is (and is not), why it matters now for long‑lived sensitive data and critical infrastructure, and how it intersects with existing obligations under risk, compliance, and sectoral regulation. We will outline a practical PQC roadmap built around three steps: creating a cryptographic inventory and mapping it to data lifetimes, designing for crypto‑agility in architectures and vendor requirements, and planning targeted PQC pilots in high‑value systems. The goal is to reframe PQC as a no‑regrets crypto‑governance program that reduces future regulatory, operational, and reputational risk—without succumbing to quantum hype. As this is a roadmap problem, not a fire-drill, it also puts AI, LLMS and how it interacts with keys, tokens and signatures, into our perspective.
Speaker(s):
Conference Closing
Start time: 17:45
Duration: 00:15
Abstract: It’s a wrap! See you at the networking hour and next year.
Networking Hour
Start time: 18:00
Duration: 01:00
Abstract: Join us for a networking hour with drinks and snacks after the conference to unwind and connect with fellow attendees, speakers, and sponsors. This is a great opportunity to discuss the day’s talks, share insights, and build relationships within the cybersecurity community. We look forward to seeing you there!
Team
Morton
Morton is a researcher in the Forward-Looking Threat Research (FTR) team at Trend Micro, Inc. where he peers into the future of computers and society to identify the risks and vulnerabilities of the future. His past in computer security stretches back 30 years, and he has been involved in most of the innovations in security, first at the University of Hamburg, Germany, then IBM Research and now Trend Micro. While originally active in malware analysis and computer forensics, recently his team has been focussing on massive threat data analysis for spotting new types of attacks quantitatively and also on modelling future threats to society that will accompany its inevitable march towards tighter integration in smart cities, intelligent transportation, supply chains and manufacturing. Morton, a native of New York City, has a Computer Science PhD degree from the University of Hamburg, and resides in the Hamburg, Germany area.
Dagmar
Coming from a non-technical background, Dagmar brings her knowledge of event organization to Elbsides. Through previous experiences in professional stage management / production for theatre in the UK and US, as well as Sci-Fi conventions in Germany, she teamed up with her husband Morton to organize events for the computer security industry, BSides Munich being among them. Having lived and worked in a variety of countries, she enjoys traveling the globe and seeing theatre productions, especially in London.
Stefan
For all his professional business life (even years before that) Stefan has been involved in information security. In 1993 he was the first student to be hired by the freshly launched DFN-CERT Services GmbH, the first Computer Emergency Response Team in Germany and also one of the first within Europe. After having spent a number of years in the PKI universe he worked as an IT security consultant for the next 15 years before re-joining the awesome crew at DFN-CERT Services GmbH in 2016. He likes IT forensics, Cyber Threat Intelligence, and malware analysis and loves helping people.
Florian
A past interest in archaeology brought Florian to the field of security. To him, both share a similar approach: recognizing the ideas of the past via its artifacts and the application of these lessons to form a better future. As a security engineer he tries to adopt this philosophy to the various aspects of the field, may it be user awareness, OS and network security or how to cloud securely. He also enjoys spicy food, fast bikes and open source.
Jonas
Jonas’ day job is in incident response and forensics at BlackBerry. During engagements, he specializes in disk forensics and fast triage, relying heavily on automation to aid in fast recovery of customers affected by data breaches or malware incidents. In his spare screen time he engages in various open source efforts and likes researching new forensics related topics. Reverse engineering proprietary APIs, file formats and protocols is one of his main interests. In the great outdoors he enjoys geocaching and paddling. He also added aerial photography and semi-autonomous to fully manual flight with home-built UAVs and FPV drones to his outdoor activities.
Fabian
Fabian specializes in embedded software development and currently works in cybersecurity for the rail industry. In his free time, he is actively involved in the CCC community and enjoys tinkering with microcontrollers.
Debbie
Debbie is also a non-techie. Her passion for working in IT security started in 2019 with SCHUTZWERK, where she came into contact with Elbsides. She has been involved in the community ever since. Inspired by her former colleagues at SCHUTZWERK, she also started studying business informatics part-time in March 2021 to gain more IT knowledge. During her studies, which ended in spring 2025, she has left no opportunity to combine all topics with IT security. Since June 2024, Debbie is working as an Account Manager at AirITSystems. Her colleagues and her ensure that companies’ business-critical IT functions securely and smoothly.
Peddy
Peddy has been working with Unix systems since the early 1990s and set up and operated one of the first web servers in Germany. He was the first to introduce Hamburg teachers to the Internet and installed the first Linux servers in Hamburg schools. He did the same in a software company for private health insurance. Security during implementation, as well as training, was always an issue. At his current employer, a media company, security in the cloud environment is a top priority.
Garlef
Garlefs dayjob has been fixing all kinds of IT-problems for over a decade in various roles, companies and industries. His current day job includes looking at log files and asking unpleasant questions for money and coffee. He enjoys simple and reliable Systems and has been loosely involved in various IT-Sec related events in Germany for a number of years.
Ingo
Ingo enjoys security, board games, and great coffee. He’s been part of Hamburg’s infosec community for years and helps make Elbsides a place where people can connect, share ideas, and have fun doing it.
Adina
Hey, I’m Adina! I am incessantly curious, work in renewable energy, and sometimes find vulnerabilities when I’m bored. I co-founded a hackerspace over a decade ago but have only just accepted that security is more than a hobby. At work, I’m a business architect with security leanings working in knowledge management for a major renewable energy company.