DevCentral Visits BlackHat 2023 !!!
Once again, buulam is headed to BlackHat in Las Vegas! He's super-excited to hit the ground in the desert to meet up with the community and some F5 partners! He'll be bringing the experience back to you, right here, so bookmark this article for all the latest news! Find the F5 Booth at Black Hat: Looking for the F5 Booth? Here it is! Check out the prize vending machine, Lego give aways, and the new Frankenstack plushies. 🎁 If you're at the show, keep your peepers peeled 👀 for buulam who would love to say "hi!" A talk with Kara Sprague, Chief Product Officer at F5 Buu Lam talks with F5 Chief Product Officer Kara Sprague about F5 solutions, particularly around APIs and Multi-Cloud Networking, and what's in store for the future. 00:30 - What does the role of Chief Product Officer entail? 01:30 - Why API security has suddenly become so important in recent years? 03:40 - The exponential increase in API sprawl. 04:11 - Multi-Cloud Networking growth as a use case. 05:45 - F5 being able to deliver security embedded within Multi-Cloud networking architecture. 06:30 - What does the future hold for F5? Bots, AI, and Social Engineering with Dan Woods at Black Hat 2023 Buu Lam talks with Dan Woods (Global Head of Bot and Risk Management at F5) about bots and AI bring used to create social influence and enhance the damage of social engineering. 00:45 - Ticket bots and Sneaker bots 01:46 - Are businesses actually trying to fix this? 03:10 - Bots and AI being used to create mass social influence 06:10 - AI being used to greatly enhance the damage of social engineering Quantum Cryptography with Keyfactor at Black Hat 2023 Ted Shorter from Keyfactor talks about post-quantum cryptography, its impact, and how organizations can stay ahead of the curve. 00:40 - Post-Quantum Cryptography 01:00 - KeyFactor's PQC Lab: an educational resources 02:20 - Strategies for thriving in a post-quantum world Check out PQC Labs educational resources here! MazeBolt's RADAR Dashboard Matthew Andriani (Founder and CEO of MazeBolt) walks us through a demo of MazeBolt's RADAR dashboard--showing how vulnerabilities can be remediated, then re-checked with updated results within 5 minutes. Fighting security alert fatigue with Stellar Cyber SOC teams face alert fatigue and the burden of so many tools. Stephen Salinas shares how Stellar Cyber uses AL and ML to reduce the noise. This allows security analysts to use information gathered across all their security tools to reach conclusions quickly. For more coverage from Buu Lam at #BlackHat, check out the DevCentral overview here: https://community.f5.com/t5/devcentral-news/devcentral-visits-blackhat-2023/ta-p/319253 App and Security teams working together with Venafi Teamwork makes the dream work. Paul from Venafi sees app and security teams coming together to resolve conflicts by reaching the outcomes they want without getting in each others way. The API security journey with WWT Where are you at in your API security journey? David and Clint from WWT share their perspective, their education-focused engagement with customers, the importance of real world scenario training. Until next time, Black Hat! That's a wrap for DevCentral at Black Hat 2023! Buu Lam shares some takeaways and observations: API security dominating discussions Hybrid and Multi-Cloud is the new norm Frankenstacks are cool, look for them at future eventsRSA Conference 2022 - That's a wrap! Here's what you may have missed
RSA Conference is one of the biggest conferences you can attend in our industry. It was last held in person in February 2020 with 36,000 attendees, although previous years saw numbers around 45,000 attendees. In 2021, it was held virtually and everyone has been excited to get back to an in-person event in 2022. This year, the show floor had a great amount of energy! I reconnected with many old friends and I met many people for the first time in person, having only seen them online otherwise, whether co-workers or other industry friends. Some common discussions happening around the F5 booth this year were: What's new with F5? and filling them in on Distributed Cloud and WAAP What are you doing for Fraud? What are APIs and how do you protect them? What is your approach to Zero Trust? These themes guided some of the videos that PSilva and I created during the week. We realize not everyone can attend the event so we wanted to document the event as best we can and share the experience with viewers. We even tried using a 360 camera to create a VR experience for everyone. And we also pulled off a Live Stream from the show floor! Below is all of the main videos we created for the week. We created some additional Bonus Content that is geared towards the members of the DevCentral Connects Group as well - please join the group in order to see that feed. Some of the shorter content will just end up on our social accounts so be sure to follow us there as well. Peter: LinkedIn / Twitter Buu: LinkedIn / Twitter Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!
✨🎩 LIVE DevCentral @ Black Hat USA 2022
Join the DevCentral team (AubreyKingF5, buulam, PSilva) this week in Las Vegas for Black Hat USA 2022! Don't forget to stop by the F5 booth 2140! Grab a t-shirt, some DC trinkets, and a selfie with the gang. We'll be releasing a ton of content live as we explore Black Hat so make sure to subscribe to this post to get the latest from the team! Keep an eye for updates in the comments! Let us know if there's anything you'd like to see at Black Hat. Highlights: Black Hat USA 2022 Partner Preview in 360! @buulam and @PSilva walk the Black Hat Business Hall and give a preview of the F5 Partners they'll be interviewing this week including @Trellix, @OPSWAT (1186), @NonameSecurity (1860), @AppViewX (3144) and @Entrust_Corp. DevCentral Visits Black Hat USA 2022! @buulam and @PSilva guide you to the F5 booth 2140: the place for giveaways and learning about fraud, API security and automated attacks. Ask the Expert: What are Automated Attacks PSilva talks with Dan Woods, F5 Head of Intelligence about Automated Attacks, what they are, what they can do and what you can do about them. Partner Spotlight: OPSWAT Tom Mullen, SVP of Business Development talks about how OPSWAT integrates with F5 solutions on platform, in the cloud, or with a VE. Partner Spotlight: AppViewX buulam sits down with Mike Turner, Worldwide VP Systems Engineering from AppViewX to discuss the benefits of a joint solution with F5 and AppViewX.That's a Wrap! DevCentral Visited: GovWare 2022
A couple months ago, I was asked to attend GovWare, in Singapore. Ignorant to events outside of North America, I was surprised to find out this was an event that attracted 10,000+ attendees from all around Asia and was in fact, Asia's largest Cyber Security conference! Held in the famous Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center, this event was bigger than I imagined and busier than I'd experienced otherwise, all year. What made the difference here was the people. The show floor was extremely energetic with people willing to learn. The talk tracks had some of the worlds brightest talents on stage. F5 even sent our very own Joel Moses, Distinguished Engineer and CTO of Platforms and Systems, as well as Dr. Aditya K. Sood, Senior Director of Threat Research and Security Strategy - 2 folks from our Office of the CTO who are some very bright thinkers. I set out to determine what are some differences in Cyber Security in Asia. In fact, I asked this of nearly everyone I met. Most replied that its not that different. If anything, I just heard amplified messages from earlier this year. API security is a real concern. Enabling security for app developers is a priority so that they can focus on code. One topic that was discussed more than I'd heard before is interesting edge computing use cases. Not just standard compute, but AI/ML use cases and security use cases. So basically, everything is the same, but different 😄 Of course, I created much content for everyone to follow along. In case you hadn't seen it all, I'll link a playlist with everything (over 20 videos) if you'd like to binge. But I'll also list some of my favorite pieces directly, as well! 🎥 DevCentral Visits: GovWare 2022 - Full Playlist 🎥F5 AppWorld 2026 Registration - early bird pricing.
Join us March 10–12 at Fontainebleau Las Vegas and Meet the Moment at F5 AppWorld 2026. Connect with your community and explore how the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform gives you control without compromise. Over three days you will experience inspiring keynotes, learn new approaches in breakouts, deepen your skills in hands-on labs, and connect with peers, F5 leaders, and partners. Register early and save: Conference pass: $499 Conference pass + F5 Academy labs: $899 Team pass: 4 for the price of 3 Take advantage of early bird pricing and register today! We look forward to seeing you in Vegas. Your DevCentral Team. --- ** Early bird pricing expires Feb 13, 2026.it-sa Expo & Congress in Germany - DevCentral Visits
buulam is heading to it-sa Expo & Congress 2023 in Nuremberg, Germany! Make sure to subscribe to the DevCentral Youtube channel, and follow DevCentral and Buu Lam to get the latest updates from across the pond. And we'll be sure to update this post, too. DevCentral Visits it-sa Expo and Congress Buu Lam says hallo from Nuremberg as he heads to it-sa Expo and Congress, one of the biggest security conferences in Europe. F5 can be found at the Weston, Computacentre, and Magellan booths. Stay tuned for more from it-sa, including Markus Hennig's talk, a live hacking demo, and more. Secure Multi-Cloud Networking with Markus Hennig Markus Hennig, F5 Distributed Cloud Services Specialist, talks secure multi-cloud networking at it-sa Expo and Congress 2023. IT security needs are global at a high level--everyone needs automation and flexible deployment options. Markus shares additional regional insights on local security adoption and prioritization. WebAssembly Support added to F5 NGINX Unit Timo Stark, Principal Technical Product Manager at F5 NGINX (and Docker Captain) talks about the new WebAssembly support added to NGINX Unit. Using F5 for SSLO with the German Pension Fund Alexander Müehleck and Oliver Tönnies from the German Pension Fund Network Infrastructure and Security Gateway team talk about their long-term experiences with F5. Most recently, they implemented an SSLO solution across multiple sites that provides outbound security services for their 60,000 users. One big benefit: flexibility--being able to switch seamlessly back and forth between their data centers enables them to do maintenance easily. Westcon to the rescue Buu Lam interviews Robert Jung (Westcon Managing Director for DACH and Eastern Europe region) about how Westcon enables F5 partners to get more value out of their products via training, go-to-market strategies, financing, and more. Robert also shares insights on what he sees in the security business regionally. Daniel Wolf on what it means to be a leader in the community Daniel_Wolf, Security Solutions Engineer at Controlware GmbH, is well-known in the DevCentral Community! Buu Lam meets up with Daniel IRL and gets the story behind his motivations to become DevCentral MVP.Win Big in Vegas: The iRules Contest is back with $5k on the line at AppWorld 2026
Hey there, community, iRules Contest here...did you miss me? Well I’m back in business, baby, in Vegas, no less! At AppWorld 2026, we’re challenging DevCentral community members in attendance to design and build innovative iRules that solve real-world problems, improve performance, and enhance customer experiences. Whether you’re a seasoned iRules veteran or just getting started, we can’t wait to see what you create. Note: participation in this edition of the iRules Contest is limited to AppWorld 2026 attendees. But fear not! We’re hitting the road this year as well. The Challenge Plan out and write an iRule that go beyond BIG-IP’s built-in capabilities. Think of the future: the possibilities are wide open. We’ll drop a couple hints leading up to the event, and you’ll have a final hint in your registration swag bag, so keep your eyes peeled. There might even be a hint in an iRules related article to release this week, who knows? $5,000 to the Grand Prize Winner -- Are You In? Total prize money is $10,000, with the other $5,000 distributed across 2nd place, 3rd place, and five category awards. Place Prize Grand Prize $5,000 2nd Place $2,500 3rd Place $1,000 Five Category Awards $300/ea What Makes for a Winning Entry? The 100-point scale judging criteria for submissions is defined below across five categories: Innovation & Creativity (25 points) Does this solution show original thinking? Consider: Novel use of iRule features or creative problem-solving Fresh perspective on common challenges Unique approach that stands out from typical solutions Business Impact (20 points) Would customers actually use this? Consider: Solves a real operational problem or customer need Practical applicability and potential adoption Clear business value Technical Excellence (25 points) Is it well-built and production-ready? Consider: Works correctly and handles edge cases Performance-conscious (efficient, minimal resource impact) Follows security best practices Clean, readable code Theme & Requirements Alignment (20 points) Does it address the contest theme using required technologies (to be announced at the event)? Consider: Relevance to the specified theme Effective use of required technology How well the chosen technology fits the solution Presentation (10 points) Can you understand what it does and why it matters? Consider: Clear explanation of the problem and solution Quality of demo or presentation Documentation sufficient to implement Important Dates Contest Opens: 6:00PM Pacific Time MARCH 10, 2026 Submission Deadline: 11:59PM Pacific Time MARCH 10, 2026 Winners Announced: MARCH 12, 2026 during general sessions How to Enter Register for AppWorld 2026 — You must be a registered attendee Register for the Contest — Registration will open on the AppWorld event app soon. The contest is open to all f5 partners, customers, and DevCentral members registered for and in attendance at the contest MARCH 10, 2026 at F5 AppWorld 2026, except as described in the Official Rules. Please see the Official Rules for complete terms, including conditions for participation and eligibility. Build and submit — During the 6-hour window on contest night before 11:59PM. Edit your draft entry as much as you like, but once you submit, that’s what we’ll review. There is an example entry pinned at the top of the Contest Entries page you should follow. Make sure to add these tags to your entry: "appworld 2026", "vegas", and "irules" as shown on that example. This contest is BYOD. Bring your own device to develop and submit your iRules submission. However, a lab environment in our UDF platform will be provided if you need a development environment to test your code against. New to iRules? No problem. We welcome participants at all skill levels. If you’re just getting started, check out our Getting Started with iRules: Basic Concepts guide. This contest is a great opportunity to learn by doing. Also, feel free to bring your favorite AI buddy with you to help craft your entry. The goal is innovation and impact, not syntax expertise. Questions? Post any and all of your contest-related questions to the pinned thread in the Contests group on DevCentral. We’ll monitor, but allow for a business day to receive a response leading up to AppWorld. The iRules Contest has a history of surfacing creative solutions from the community. Some of the best ideas we’ve seen came from people who approached problems differently, and we’re looking forward to seeing what you build this year. Register. Prepare. Compete. See you at AppWorld!
