No Days Off: A Field Guide to Black Hat USA 2026

Your guide to the parties, receptions, and briefings worth prioritizing this year, especially if AI penetration testing and offensive security are on your agenda.

Black Hat USA is where security sets the tone for 2027, and this year a clear theme across briefings and events is: what happens when AI starts doing the attacking? Attackers already use AI to find and chain vulnerabilities faster than most teams can patch them. The security programs that stay ahead are the ones adopting tools that reason and act like an attacker.

Here is our shortlist of the gatherings and sessions worth building your week around, plus an open invitation to train with us at the Novee Gym.

The Networking Events Worth Building Your Week Around

1. Lock It Down Networking Party

Thursday, August 6 | 4:00 – 7:00 PM | 1923 Prohibition Bar, Mandalay Bay

Hosted by CXO InSyte and CISO Network. Sponsored by Novee, YL Ventures, Minimus, Miggo, Hush Security, Dymium, Stellar Cyber, and Tenet.

Sometimes, it helps to know where you’ll end up before you get started.

Close out Black Hat with a networking reception worthy of a stellar week. Connect with senior decision-makers and influencers over drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and live music in this thrilling close-out to the event. Novee is a proud sponsor this year, so come find us. 

Register for “Lock it Down” here.

2. VIP Cocktail Reception

Monday, August 3 | 5:00 – 8:00 PM | Venue TBD

Hosted by Evolution Equity Partners, Glilot Capital, Boldstart Ventures, Valley, and AWS.

A curated reception to open the week, bringing together founders, CISOs, and investors from across the cyber ecosystem. 

Invite-only, with registration subject to approval.

3. Security Leaders Cocktail Hour

Monday, August 3 | 5:00 – 7:30 PM | Citizens Kitchen & Bar

Hosted by Hetz Ventures, SYN Ventures, Okta Ventures, AWS, and S Ventures (SentinelOne).

An evening of drinks, bites, and candid conversation with the cybersecurity ecosystem. The hosts are bringing together a curated group of founders, CISOs, security executives, and investors for relaxed, high-signal mingling. Come unwind, make new connections, and reconnect with familiar faces.

Sign up here for the Cocktail Hour.

4. Black Hat Kick Off Party 2026

Tuesday, August 4 | 5:00 – 9:00 PM | Foundation Room, Las Vegas

Hosted by NightDragon, Ballistic Ventures, YL Ventures, Merlin, and Team8.

Open the week with an invite-only gathering hosted by leading global cyber venture firms. Expect bold ideas, sharp minds, dim lights, and darker cocktails, where the next wave of cyber innovation meets capital. No panels. No pitches. Just connections. 

Space is limited, so RSVP to reserve your spot at the Black Hat Kick Off.

5. Follow the Purple Brick Road: Novee at the Sphere

Wednesday, August 5 | 6:30 – 9:15 PM | The Sphere, The Venetian

Hosted by Novee Security.

We are hosting a private VIP evening at The Sphere, where The Wizard of Oz has been reimagined across the venue’s immersive canvas. We have reserved an exclusive suite for an intimate gathering of security leaders: catering, drinks, and time to connect with peers before the show, then a journey down the yellow brick road unlike anything you have seen.

Request to join us at the Sphere (registration is subject to approval).

6. The Black Hat Breakfast

Thursday, August 6 | 8:00 – 11:00 AM | House of Blues 

Hosted by Hubscale, Sysdig, Squared Circle Ventures, Cloud Security Alliance, Norwest, and Fin Capital.

As Black Hat winds down, join an invitation-only gathering of security leaders, investors, founders, and executives for a relaxed morning of high-value networking over a premium breakfast buffet. Designed for CISOs, CEOs, founders, and VCs who want to trade perspectives away from the conference crowds. Attendance is limited and a confirmed registration code is required, and walk-ins cannot be accommodated.

Register here.

Sessions Worth Catching

We’re generally in the business of stopping account takeovers, but the Novee Takeover on the Black Hat stage is worth keeping.

Three members of our founding research team are presenting two briefings this year. Both are worth a spot on your schedule if you build or defend software that ships fast.

1. Pre-auth RCE in Enterprise Java: When Middleware Becomes the Exploit

Founding-team vulnerability researchers Lidor Ben Shirtit and Assaf Levkovich on real-world pre-auth RCE chains hiding in the software plumbing of widely deployed enterprise Java platforms.

2. Trusted Enough to Run: Breaking AI Agents in Official Workflows

Founding-team security researcher Elad Meged on a distinct failure class in official AI-agent workflows.

Train with Us at The Novee Gym. Booth #5323

Find us at Booth #5323 in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, under the banner “Training the World’s Strongest Offensive AI.” 

In the Novee Gym, our purpose-built offensive AI trains 24/7 against real applications, gets benchmarked every cycle, and comes back stronger. That means you get the best offensive techniques, the best models, and a system that continuously adapts to be the best AI Hacker and AI Defender for your environment.

We have a full schedule of activities planned for your training session:

• The #ProofofTraining photo op. Grab a shot with our oversized barbell and dumbbells, then tag us.
• The Novee Workout Guide. Take home a 20 minute bodyweight workout plan. Do it in your hotel, while you’re waiting for the shuttle, in the lounge, or while you’re waiting for the briefings to start. 
• Live demos and swag. See the platform in action at any of our four stations, and pick up your “No Days Off” gear.

After warming up with our exercise guide, stay for a live demo and see how Novee works:

• How our proprietary offensive model finds the business logic flaws, authorization gaps, and chained attack paths that manual testers sometimes catch and scanners consistently miss.
• How black-box testing works with nothing but a domain name: our AI hackers map your attack surface, run multi-step attacks, prove every finding with a working exploit, then retest after the fix to confirm it is actually closed. BONUS: Bring your domain name and we’ll test it for you.
• How our owning the entire AI stack means the Novee Gym optimizes the system every cycle, delivering higher precision and lower cost.
• Why “built by attackers” is more than a tagline: our team includes former nation-state operators and researchers who have found zero-days in Gemini, Cursor, and Microsoft

If AI penetration testing is on your agenda this year, we should talk. 

Come find us at Booth #5323, or book a meeting with the team.