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Series | Black Hat USA 2025 | Why?

Why? A Mission Forged in Code

Our week-long journey through the themes of Black Hat 2025 has explored the foundational pillars of modern cybersecurity: the Who of identity, the What of the attack surface, the Where of the cloud, and the When of response. For our final installment, we turn to the most important question of all: Why?

What is the underlying purpose that unites the thousands of researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and defenders who gather here each year?

Beyond the multi-billion dollar market valuations and the fierce competition on the Business Hall floor, there is a palpable sense that cybersecurity is more than just a job, it is a calling. The work done by this community is essential for protecting not just corporate data, but national security, personal privacy, and the overall integrity of our digital infrastructure. 

This final debrief moves beyond the technology to explore the mission-driven heart of a community forged in code, united by a shared purpose.

Investing in the Mission: The Operator VCs

To understand the “why” of any sector in the tech industry, I like to start by looking at it through the eyes of those who fund its future. In my interviews with the partners at Ballistic Ventures, a firm that invests exclusively in cybersecurity, this focus on mission was paramount. Co-founder Jake Seid described Ballistic as a “mission-driven firm” created to address the urgent need for innovation in a world where cyber-attacks are a matter of national and economic security. 

Jake Seid, Co-founder and General Partner, Ballistic Ventures

What makes their approach unique is that the partners are all former operators (CISOs, CEOs) and founders who have lived the pain. “We’re a team of operators that have come together to… help the next generation of founders,” Seid explained. Venture investing isn’t just about writing checks, it’s about providing the empathy and real-world guidance needed to build solutions that actually work.

Barmak Meftah, Co-founder and General Partner, Ballistic Ventures

His partner, Barmak Meftah, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the need to democratize security for the critically underserved mid-market, a “vast attack surface with limited financial and human resources”. This elevates the “why” of cybersecurity from a technical concern to a strategic imperative: building companies that not only defend against threats but also enable business resilience and protect the entire economic ecosystem.

The Power of Community: A Project You Can See Through

This mission isn’t just driven by venture capital, it’s embodied in the very fabric of how the most critical parts of our digital world are built. The open-source movement is perhaps the purest expression of this collaborative spirit.

Take Kubernetes, the second-largest open-source project in the world behind Linux itself. In my conversation with Kat Cosgrove, a Kubernetes maintainer and Head of Developer Advocacy at Minimus, she painted a vivid picture of a global community in action. The project is maintained by roughly 1,300 monthly contributors, a massive, decentralized team of volunteers and corporate-sponsored engineers all working together.

Kat Cosgrove, Head of Developer Advocacy, Minimus

Why does this matter? Because, as Kat explained, this radical openness is a security feature, not a bug. “Open source software is inherently more secure than proprietary software because we can move faster,” she said. “If I did something to screw with Kubernetes, it would get noticed and rolled back so fast it would make your head spin”. She described the project as functioning like “a company you can see straight through,” with a public org chart and completely open code. It’s a powerful testament to the idea of collective defense.

A Community with a Conscience

It’s easy to get lost in the technology, but events like Black Hat are a powerful reminder of the human element that binds this industry together. I was talking about this with Black Hat‘s own General Manager, Steve Wylie, who has been observing this community for years. He pointed out how easy it is to get bogged down in the “daily grind” of cybersecurity, a field where you are perpetually on defense, always focused on what could go wrong.

“You can get sucked down into the bits and bytes and the negativity,” Steve said, and he’s right. This job can be a heavy weight to carry. But what cuts through that weight is a shared sense of purpose. This community has a deep, almost innate sense of right and wrong. The moral code.

Steve Wylie, VP and General Manager, Black Hat

We saw it when the Log4j vulnerability hit, and a global army of volunteers, many unpaid, mobilized overnight to contain the damage. We see it every day in the responsible disclosure efforts of researchers who work to get flaws fixed, not just exploit them. As Steve put it, this is about more than just protecting corporate assets. “We’re protecting hospitals, we’re protecting banks, we’re protecting our way of life,” he reminded me. “It’s a really important job”.

That shared mission is why the community is so vital. It’s why, as Steve noted, your personal network is your “secret weapon,” and why bringing new people into the fold isn’t just good for their careers, it’s essential for the health of our entire ecosystem.

 A Stand Against Power

This sense of mission often extends beyond corporate defense and into the realm of human rights. The skills possessed by this community can be used to build walls, but they can also be used to shine a light into the darkest corners of digital authoritarianism.

No one embodies this more than Ron Deibert, the founder and director of the Citizen Lab, whose keynote was a sobering and necessary call to action. For years, Deibert and his team have been at the forefront of uncovering how mercenary spyware, like Pegasus, is used by authoritarian regimes to target journalists, activists, and dissidents. His talk served as a stark reminder that the tools and techniques discussed in the halls of Black Hat have real-world, life-and-death consequences.

The work of Citizen Lab represents the conscience of the cybersecurity community. It’s a powerful example of applying the hacker mindset. Curiosity, a desire to understand how things work, and a willingness to expose flaws, not for profit, but in the public interest. It reinforces a core belief that runs deep in this community: technology should be a tool for empowerment, not oppression. 

This is the ultimate “why”? The moral code underpinning all the binary. A commitment to defending not just networks, but the fundamental rights of a free and open society.

Conclusion: Forged in Code, United by Purpose

As the crowds depart and the lights of the Business Hall dimmed (damn, they roll those carpets up FAST), the enduring story of Black Hat 2025 is not one of AI, cloud, or zero trust. Those are merely the tools and battlegrounds of the moment. The real story is that of a global community of defenders, researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and investors who, despite their competitive differences, are bound by a shared and urgent mission.

They are here because they believe in a safer, more resilient digital world. They are driven by the challenge of out-innovating a relentless adversary. They are united by the understanding that in the fight against common threats, collaboration is not just a strategy; it is a necessity. This is a community forged in code, but it is a community united by purpose.

My happy face after finishing my last interview at Black Hat USA 2025

Check out theCUBE for all of our Black Hat USA 2025 coverage!

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