CYBER SECURITY
26.09.25
About the conference
DISH, ManchesteR
08:30 Registration | 5pm Evening Social
As digital systems evolve at lightning speed, the threats surrounding them grow just as fast. That’s why our Cyber Security Conference is built specifically for practitioners working deep in the field—engineers, analysts, and technologists safeguarding infrastructure every day. This is a space for technical minds to connect, learn, and get hands-on with the latest innovations. Hear directly from professionals who are leading advancements in cyber defence, tackling today’s challenges with tomorrow’s tools. Join us at Manchester’s Digital Security Hub—the centre of the city’s cyber ecosystem—for a day of serious knowledge sharing and practical insight.
Tickets go on sale soon – be sure not to miss this event by joining our waiting list!
SPONSORED BY
What to expect
Our Cyber Security conference is aimed at tech professionals working in the cyber space.
Across the day, we’ll hear from six expert speakers diving into real-world issues around security, threat detection, and cyber ethics—sharing what they’ve learned from working on the front lines of the industry. We’ll also host two engaging panel discussions designed to open up the conversation, giving delegates a chance to pose questions, challenge ideas, and contribute to the wider dialogue.
Our practical workshops are built for techies who learn by doing. Dive deeper into specific topics, collaborate with peers facing similar challenges, and walk away with actionable insights you can apply in your day-to-day work. It’s about more than theory—it’s about solving real problems, together.
Round off the day with our informal evening social—a chance to connect with fellow delegates and speakers, swap stories, and get those burning questions answered. Whether you’re looking to expand your network, explore new ideas, or spark career opportunities, it’s the perfect way to keep the conversation going.
SPEAKERS
Woah there! We’re still firming up the lineup for this years festival! Make sure you join our newsletter to be the first in the know as we announce our speakers!
If you are an expert on Cyber Security and feel you have something to say – why not apply to speak at this years event? There’s still time to get your application down – just visit our speaking page – go on you know you want to!
Amy Newton
Festival Director
MTF
Ricardo Sueiras
Principal Advocate
Open Source
Daniel Prince-Llewellyn
Director of Technology
CreateFuture
AGENDA
Download the days agenda on the link below and explore the talk contents on the drop downs below.
Nick Evans
COO
Lockular
SESSION OVERVIEW: Data will drive the new economy, but the digital world will prosper to the benefit of us all only if people trust data- deep fake and AI make that a real concern.
I’ll explore the problems and give examples, such as evidence presented to UK Parliament recently to demonstrate vulnerabilities of data used in critical infrastructure, and how we all generate a huge volume of data that, unless it’s secured and accounted for, can be used by a bad actor to track our lives second by second.
The solution is offered by innovative web3 technology by writing an immutable record in blockchain, guaranteeing data is complete, accurate and real, thereby not only securing the data, but crucially ensuring its use is accountable and transparent.
Through such solutions, critical infrastructure is secured, we can be sure the data we use in our personal and business lives is complete, accurate and real, and we take control of personal data by ensuring it’s used only for purposes we’ve given consent
Ricardo Sueiras Sueiras
Principal Advocate
Open Source
SESSION OVERVIEW: Authorization is one of the foundational needs when building your applications and services. Making sure you are able to correctly and reliably grant or deny access to your application resources is critical. Yet this is still one of the hardest things we have to do as developers.
In this session I am going to cover a new open source project called Cedar that helps you solve this problem and build next generation authorization into your applications. I am going to provide a quick overview in authorisation first before looking at Cedar. I will cover why Cedar was created, and how through the use of formal reasoning and differential random testing, you can trust Cedar.
Finally I will dive into code and show you a working examples that brings this all to life, using a Python Flask application to show you how you can begin to use Cedar to help you simplify authorisation for your applications.
Daniel Prince-Llewellyn
Director of Technology
CreateFuture
SESSION OVERVIEW: With the incredible speed that developers have been integrating AI into their applications, the tools we have to prevent attackers from abusing AI has not kept up, and in fact unlike other vulnerabilities in web applications (like XSS) there is no easy or clear way of stopping prompt injection attacks
In this talk, I’ll discuss:
* The top threat from the OWASP top 10 to LLM Applications – Prompt Injection.
* I’ll go through what it is
* The impact it can have on an application, with a few notable case studies where applications have been attacked
* I’ll then tell the story of what defences have been proposed (which are interesting and novel), and how they have then been undermined (which is even more interesting).
* While there is no silver bullet the problem, I will finish by pointing the attendees to a few tools they can use to prevent prompt injection attacks in their own applications
Kendrick Curtis
VP of Technology
Codacy
SESSION OVERVIEW:
Lewis Keeling
Senior Penetration Tester & Director
Wolf Network Security
SESSION OVERVIEW:
In this session, we will explore the world of social engineering— one of the most sophisticated and underappreciated methods of cyber attacks. Social engineers exploit human psychology, using manipulation and deception to bypass technical defenses and gain unauthorised access to sensitive information or areas. Through real-world case studies and compelling stories, we’ll uncover common tactics, and examine how attackers exploit trust, fear, and urgency to achieve their goals. Attendees will gain insights into identifying social engineering techniques, learning practical tips on how to defend against them. This session will also emphasise the importance of cultivating a security-aware mindset, reinforcing that even the most advanced technology is vulnerable without human vigilance.
Emma Green
Managing Partner
CD Lawyers
SESSION OVERVIEW:
The global cybersecurity landscape is increasingly complex. Whether you’re a founder or established business, it can be tricky navigating a patchwork of laws and regulations that vary significantly across countries. This can create challenges in compliance.
A proactive and informed approach to cybersecurity and compliance can help your business better manage compliance risks in this multifaceted landscape.
In this session we will look at existing and evolving cyber laws and regulations in the UK, EU and USA to help you better understand whether and what your business needs to consider.
As an IT goddess now moved into the legal world, I understand how complex and confusing these areas can be but will leave you with some great tips, advice and takeaways for your business.
Stuart Coulson
Director
HiddenText.
SESSION OVERVIEW:
Security Awareness is usually a bunch of posters telling you to not click things. Phishing exercises tell you off like a naughty school child because you did something (or didn’t). But what does that tell you about the security team? In this talk, Stuart will discuss how Security Awareness should be a much different beast than what you are doing right now. Easier to implement and far more fun to run too!
Valeen Oseh-Ovarah
Founder & CEO
TisOva
SESSION OVERVIEW:
This talk will delve into the unique challenges faced by female immigrant founders in the cybersecurity industry, including overcoming biases, navigating cultural and language barriers, and the complexities of building a business in a new environment. Valeen will share personal experiences, lessons learned, and practical strategies for overcoming these obstacles. Attendees will gain insights into key pathways that can pave the way for success in a highly competitive and male-dominated industry.
JOIN OR SPONSOR COMMUNITY
From an exhibition stand at our core conference to sponsorship of one of our mid-year events, MTF offers businesses of all sizes an opportunity to join together and engage with the Manchester Tech Ecosystem.
From boosting brand awareness to securing your next big hire, our sponsorship packages offer a year of benefits designed to hit your business goals, regardless of your priorities!
Enquiry today or explore the different opportunities for MTF 2026