Black Hat Europe 2025 returns to London as one of the most respected security events on the calendar. The conference brings together security researchers, CISOs, engineers, hackers, and vendors to dig into real threats, tools, and architectures rather than marketing buzzwords.
Across four days at ExCeL London, attendees move between hands-on Trainings, Summits, Briefings, villages, and the Business Hall where demos, meetings, and hallway conversations turn into concrete projects.
This guide walks you through what Black Hat Europe is, who attends, what to expect on site, and how to plan your trip so you can get full value from every session and meeting.
What Is Black Hat Europe 2025?
Black Hat Europe is the European edition of the Black Hat conference series founded in 1997. The event focuses on applied security research and practitioner-level content, with programs built around new vulnerabilities, techniques, and defenses.
Black Hat Europe 2025 keeps that formula and adds a strong regional flavor, with speakers and attendees from across the UK, EU, and global security community. The format combines:
- Deep technical Trainings led by recognized experts
- Briefings that showcase new research, tools, and case studies
- Summits focused on domains like AI security, financial services, and executive strategy
- A Business Hall where vendors, partners, and buyers meet, watch demos, and compare approaches
Black Hat’s Europe event is known for:
- Heavy emphasis on original research and real incidents
- Participation from government, critical infrastructure, and large enterprises
- A format that serves both technical practitioners and senior security leadership
You can view the event listing on Vendelux here: Black Hat Europe 2025 on Vendelux.
When And Where Is Black Hat Europe 2025 Taking Place?
For 2025, Black Hat Europe runs December 8–11, 2025 at ExCeL London in the UK.
Event basics
- Dates: December 8–11, 2025
- City: London, United Kingdom
- Venue: ExCeL London, Royal Victoria Dock
The schedule is split into:
- Trainings: December 8–9
- Summits, Briefings, and Business Hall: December 10–11
ExCeL is a large waterfront convention center in London’s Docklands, between Canary Wharf and London City Airport. It has multiple exhibition halls, conference rooms, and plenty of space for labs, villages, and side meetings.
Who’s Coming To Black Hat Europe 2025?
Black Hat Europe pulls in a concentrated mix of security specialists, buyers, and decision makers from across EMEA and beyond.
The 2024 event welcomed about 3,600 in-person attendees from more than 100 countries, along with dozens of Briefings, Trainings, and exhibitors. 2025 is expected to match or exceed that scale.
You can expect to meet:
Enterprise and mid-market security teams
- CISOs, deputy CISOs, and heads of information security
- Security architects, SOC leaders, incident response managers
- Directors and managers responsible for cloud, identity, and application security
Technical practitioners and ethical hackers
- Red teamers, penetration testers, bug bounty hunters
- Malware analysts, reverse engineers, exploit developers
- Detection engineers and threat hunters
Government, public sector, and critical infrastructure
- National and regional cyber agencies
- Law enforcement and defense representatives
- Operators from energy, finance, healthcare, and transport
Vendors, partners, and startups
- Security platforms across endpoint, network, cloud, and identity
- Threat intelligence, SIEM, XDR, and MDR providers
- Early-stage startups with focused capabilities
This mix gives you both front-line views of active attacks and high-level perspective on risk, regulation, and investment.
Why This Audience Matters
If you sell cybersecurity products or services, Black Hat Europe compresses months of outreach into a few days. Many attendees are hands-on owners of tools and architectures, not casual observers.
For buyers, it is one of the few environments where you can:
- Compare approaches from competing vendors in a single walk through the Business Hall
- Talk directly with product managers, researchers, and consultants
- Validate ideas with peers who run similar environments in other regions or industries
The audience tends to value concrete outcomes: detection quality, mean-time-to-respond, coverage of specific environments, and evidence from real deployments. If your message is grounded in those points, conversations progress quickly.
Who Will Be Speaking At Black Hat Europe 2025?
The keynote and featured speakers for 2025 underline the event’s focus on real-world risk and geopolitics. The announced keynote lineup includes:
- Max Smeets, Co-Director, Virtual Routes
- Linus Neumann, Head of Security Strategy, Security Research Labs
- Joe Tidy, Cyber Correspondent, BBC
- Louise Marie Hurel, Researcher, Royal United Services Institute
Across Summits, Briefings, and Trainings, you can expect:
- Senior security leaders from large enterprises and financial institutions
- Researchers presenting new vulnerabilities, attack paths, and tooling
- Experts on AI security, nation-state activity, and financial sector threats
Session styles range from keynote talks and panel discussions to detailed technical walk-throughs and lab-style sessions.
What Kind Of Sponsors And Exhibitions Will There Be?
The Business Hall at Black Hat Europe is a major draw for both vendors and buyers.
Recent announcements highlight a sponsor mix that includes:
- Broadcom, Google, ThreatSpike Labs as Titanium-level partners
- Vendors such as Black Duck, Clover, KnowBe4, OX Security, Push Security, runZero, ThreatLocker, and TuxCare at higher sponsor tiers
- Additional partners across cloud security, identity, OT security, and AI-driven detection
You can expect to see:
- Network, endpoint, and cloud security platforms
- Identity, access management, and zero-trust solutions
- Threat intelligence, SIEM, SOAR, and XDR tools
- OT and critical infrastructure security providers
- Bug bounty, attack surface management, and offensive testing platforms
Exhibition Highlights
On the show floor, typical elements include:
- A Business Hall with booths, demo theaters, and informal meeting areas
- Startup and innovation zones that showcase early-stage companies
- Sponsor sessions and theater talks on applied use cases
- Spaces for Arsenal tool demos and community projects
For many teams, the Business Hall is where they confirm vendor shortlists, gather data for RFPs, and run back-to-back meetings with existing partners.
What Kind Of Sessions Are There At Black Hat Europe 2025?
Black Hat Europe organizes its program into several core formats:
Trainings
Multi-day, instructor-led courses on topics such as:
- Exploit development and vulnerability discovery
- Web application and API security
- Cloud, container, and Kubernetes security
- Reverse engineering and malware analysis
- Incident response and threat hunting
Trainings are designed for small groups, with a focus on exercises, tools, and repeatable workflows you can take home.
Briefings
Briefings are research-driven talks that cover:
- New vulnerabilities and exploit chains
- Detection and hardening techniques for modern environments
- Case studies from large organizations and critical infrastructure operators
Content is selected through a call for papers process and tends to emphasize original work.
Summits
In 2025, the Summits program includes:
- AI Security Summit
- Financial Services Security Summit
- Executive Summit
Summits give focused groups a chance to spend a day with peers, working through domain-specific risks, regulatory pressure, and program design.
Arsenal, villages, and activities
Beyond the main tracks, you will see:
- Arsenal sessions where tool authors demo and explain open-source or research tools
- Villages and labs on topics like cloud, mobile, or industrial control security
- Business Hall theater talks, sponsor sessions, and product deep dives
What To Expect From Black Hat Europe 2025 – Is The Event Worth It?
Black Hat Europe has a clear reputation: it is a working conference for people who make security decisions and run security operations.
Common reasons teams see strong value:
- High signal for security roles
Most attendees work directly in security, from engineering to strategy. - Focus on real architectures and incidents
Talks and trainings stay close to real environments, not abstract theory. - Global and regional mix
You meet teams from the UK and EU alongside organizations from North America, the Middle East, and Asia.
If your responsibilities touch security strategy, SOC operations, detection engineering, or secure design, three busy days at Black Hat Europe can influence your roadmap, tooling, and partnerships for the next year.
Why Should You Attend Black Hat Europe 2025?
Different teams attend for different reasons, but the core benefits are consistent.
For security leaders and CISOs
- Compare strategies with peers across industries and regions
- Stress-test your roadmap against current research and attacker behavior
- Understand how AI, regulation, and budgets are reshaping programs
For technical practitioners
- Learn new techniques from researchers and offensive security teams
- See how others solve similar problems in cloud, identity, and endpoint security
- Build a network of peers you can contact later for advice or collaboration
For vendors and partners
- Meet high-intent buyers who control or influence security spend
- Run realistic demos that use customer environments and data flows
- Build pipeline and partner relationships across EMEA in a short window
If you are planning your calendar of cybersecurity events, Black Hat Europe belongs in the group that can directly shape your architecture, roadmap, and vendor strategy.
Leverage Attendee Insights: Who’s Attending And How To Prepare
Before you commit budget and headcount, you should know which accounts and roles are likely to be on site and how they buy.
Using Vendelux, marketing and revenue teams can:
- Upload an ICP list or build one with filters and see which accounts plan to attend
- Connect Salesforce or HubSpot to identify overlap between your pipeline and Black Hat Europe attendees
- Use Vendelux Meetings to pre-book 1:1 meetings with target accounts during the event
Typical Black Hat Europe attendees include:
- Technical buyers who expect clear problem statements and evidence from production environments
- Senior leaders who care about risk, resilience, and measurable outcomes
- Partners and service providers looking for complementary offerings
How To Use That Insight
- Shape your messaging around concrete threat models and environments
- Prepare demos that mirror real production setups, not generic sample data
- Use Vendelux to lock in meetings with clear next steps such as PoCs, workshops, or architecture reviews
Going in with a target account list and pre-booked meetings turns Black Hat Europe from a general conference trip into a structured pipeline and learning exercise.
Things To Consider Before Registering For Black Hat Europe 2025
Registration details can change as the event approaches, but some planning points stay consistent.
Pass type
Black Hat events typically separate:
- Trainings passes for 2- or 4-day courses
- Briefings + Business Hall passes for the main conference days
- Possible add-ons or specific access for Summits or executive programs
Review which formats matter most for your goals and budget.
Team composition
Decide early:
- Who needs a Training seat versus who will focus on Briefings and meetings
- Whether you want executive attendance for Board-level or strategy discussions
- How you will split time between sessions, Business Hall, and private meetings
Budget
Include:
- Registration and training fees
- Travel, hotel, and local transport for London in December
- Meeting space, sponsor activities, or customer dinners if you plan to host
Always confirm current pass types and pricing on the official Black Hat Europe 2025 site before booking.
Plan Your Visit To Black Hat Europe 2025 And What To Do After Hours
ExCeL London sits in the Royal Docks area of East London. The venue is built to handle large international events and is well connected by public transport.
Getting there
- Closest airport: London City Airport (LCY), about a 5–10 minute taxi or short DLR ride from ExCeL
- Rail and Tube: The Elizabeth line and DLR stop at Custom House (west entrance) and Prince Regent (east entrance), which are next to the venue
- From central London, you can reach ExCeL by Elizabeth line via Custom House or via Jubilee line plus DLR through Canning Town.
Neighborhoods and areas to explore
- Canary Wharf: Short DLR or Elizabeth line ride away, with restaurants, bars, and waterfront walks
- Greenwich: Historic area across the river with museums and views over the city
- Central London areas such as the City, Soho, and West End are reachable in under 30 minutes on the Elizabeth line.
Evenings often fill up with vendor receptions, invite-only dinners, and side events. Keep space in your schedule for spontaneous drinks or coffee with prospects and partners.
Tips When Traveling To Black Hat Europe 2025 + Hotels
Book accommodation early
Demand around major events at ExCeL can spike. Good areas and hotel types include:
- On-site or near-site hotels around Royal Victoria Dock, such as Aloft London ExCeL, Novotel London ExCeL, Moxy London Excel, DoubleTree by Hilton London ExCeL, and ibis London Docklands
- Hotels in Canary Wharf if you prefer more dining options and don’t mind a short DLR or Elizabeth line ride
- Properties near London City Airport if you have early flights
Check whether event organizers or hotel partners offer discounted blocks or booking tools.
What to pack
- Light business attire suitable for long days at a conference
- Comfortable shoes for walking between halls and along the dock
- A light jacket or layers; London in December can be cold and damp
- A portable charger and any needed adapters for UK power outlets
Local considerations
- Factor in transport time if you stay outside Docklands; Elizabeth line and DLR are usually fastest to the venue
- Build small buffers into your schedule for public transport, security lines, and walking between halls
- Keep an eye on weather forecasts and allow extra time if conditions are poor
A bit of planning up front keeps your focus on meetings and sessions instead of logistics.
Summary: Careful Planning Helps You Get Full Value From Black Hat Europe 2025
Black Hat Europe 2025 is more than another security conference. It is a focused environment where researchers, defenders, and decision makers meet to trade knowledge, share tools, and shape real investment decisions. With thousands of attendees, a dense research program, and a busy Business Hall, it has become a key reference point for European and global security teams.
To get the most from your trip:
- Define clear goals across learning, vendor review, and meetings
- Use Vendelux to identify target accounts, roles, and overlaps with your pipeline
- Plan your travel, hotel, and after-hours schedule so you have time and space for real conversations
With the right preparation, Black Hat Europe 2025 can sharpen your security strategy, deepen your partner network, and deliver a year’s worth of insight and pipeline in a few concentrated days.
