Aldu Cornelissen, the technical mind and co-founder of Murmur, a Cape Town-based consultancy, is a pioneer in AI-driven pipelines and analytics of complex unstructured data. His expertise and tools enable unparalleled insights into the South African digital public square. After a decade of pioneering computational social science at Stellenbosch University, where he earned a PhD for his work on social network analysis, he transitioned to Kantar’s Global Innovations team as technology lead. In this role, he engaged in market research and developed technical solutions for multinational clients. Currently, as co-founder of Murmur, he is the architect of proprietary systems that monitor millions of social interactions, enabling the identification of inauthentic actors, echo chambers, and narrative shifts.

Andrea Brosio is a Security Researcher and Senior Content Engineer at TryHackMe, specializing in red teaming, malware development, and offensive security. With prior experience as a Bug Hunter and Red Team Operator he combines real-world adversarial expertise with a passion for creating engaging cybersecurity training.

Brent Shaw began his career in audio engineering, working on real-time distributed audio control systems before transitioning into the world of cybersecurity. His early focus on Industrial Control System (ICS) security introduced him to the complexities of SCADA and PLC environments, where he developed expertise in protecting critical infrastructure.

Today, Brent works as a cybersecurity researcher with a strong emphasis on security automation. His interests span a wide range of cutting-edge topics, from breaching air-gapped networks to unconventional techniques like ultrasonic mole detection. Brent’s work combines deep technical knowledge with a passion for exploring the boundaries of security in both traditional and emerging domains.

Hello! My name is Charl. I'm a South African based in Cape Town, but I work for Orange Cyberdefense in Paris as their global head for security research. I lead an international, cross-disciplinary team of researchers who produce security intelligence and research in support of Orange's various efforts in the cybersecurity space.

Many years back I was a co-founder of penetration testing firm SensePost, but I've also lead teams of trainers, vulnerability management, threat detection and more.

I write and speak frequently on various topics in security, including at some of the major security conferences world-wide, but connecting with my peers in ZA is always my favourite!

TBC

Dale Nunns is a father, husband, senior software developer and serial skill collector who dabbles in hardware hacking, electronics and making things.

He's been professionally writing software for 20+years in a wide range of languages and platforms and is a frequent speaker at DevConf and BSides Cape Town.

David works as a cybersecurity consultant with a focus on securing web and mobile applications, as well as AI-centric systems. He has a background in Computer Engineering (BEng) and holds an MSc in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Outside of work, he enjoys doing triathlons and creating educational content around cybersecurity and AI.

With a decade embedded in the financial sector’s digital trenches, [Redacted] has analysed malware strains, reverse-engineered adversarial code, and profiled threat actors operating in the shadows of global finance. Armed with a PhD in Signals Intelligence, they’ve traced lateral movement across compromised networks and developed behavioural fingerprints of Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups. Their work bridges the gap between deep technical analysis and real-world adversary tracking

My name is Ethan Havinga, after finishing my education I was lucky enough to join an internship at MWR CyberSec where I now work fulltime as a Cybersecurity Consultant with a focus in the web application security space. In my spare time I enjoy a bit of light reading and video games, and I have a passion for diving head first into technical rabbit holes.

As the CRO at Intigriti, Harry leads the revenue functions that drives growth. With over 20 years of cybersecurity experience and a deep technical background in security testing, adversary simulations and incident response, he has led numerous projects for multinational organisations, with a focus in the financial services/ telecoms sectors across Europe, US, Singapore and Africa.
As part of the early founding team at MWR InfoSecurity in the 2004, he had a front line seat on the global expansion rollercoaster of MWR from a small startup in the UK to an international research led security consultancy, until MWR's acquisition in 2018.
Harry joined Intigriti in 2020, at an exciting time as Intigriti went from startup into scale-up phase and bug-bounty and crowdsecurity started to become more mainstream.

A senior member of the academic-sector CSIRT within the SANReN group. A passionate cybersecurity specialist with an interest in digital forensics, mobile security and anything cybersecurity-related. A regular speaker at conferences on cybersecurity topics, such as student competitions, Deepfake cyber attacks, and protecting the South African NREN.

I currently serve as the Head of Research, Development, and Innovation at BlueVision ITM, where I lead initiatives in cyber security innovation and capability development. I specifically focus on bridges the gap between theoretical research and practical application, particularly in areas like cryptography, network security, and cyber resilience.

I am passionate about fostering the next generation of cyber security talent through mentorship and community engagement. As such, I contribute to various cyber security events, community gatherings and cyber security challenges throughout South Africa.

Jaco Swanepoel is a cybersecurity professional with over 15 years of experience in digital forensics, incident response, and threat intelligence. He’s worked on high-profile investigations, supported law enforcement operations, and testified as an expert witness in court. Having obtained multiple SANS certifications, he has led forensic engagements across several continents. Today, he heads a threat hunting and intelligence team within one of South Africa’s leading financial institutions, tracking threat actors and uncovering malicious activity. Passionate about sharing knowledge, Jaco actively works on projects designed to spark curiosity and inspire others to explore the world of cybersecurity.

Jared is the Head of Security at Synthesis, where he specializes in enterprise cloud architecture. Jared is passionate and deeply committed to guiding large organizations through the complexities of architecting, securing and operationalizing enterprise cloud environments. Beyond Jared’s professional responsibilities, Jared is an enthusiastic advocate for community building, serving as the organizer of several local security events, including 0xcon, BSides Cape Town, and BSides Joburg. Jared’s research focuses on cybersecurity topics that intersect with national security and foreign policy issues such as encryption, privacy, surveillance, disinformation, and nation-state activity.

Engineering Team Lead at Thinkst Applied Research (the folks behind Canary). I enjoy anything to do with sport, security, computer games or the lighter side of life.

Keith Makan is an experienced cybersecurity consultant and researcher with a strong history of helping clients around the world manage information security risks. He founded Keith Makan Security Consultancy (KMSec) (Pty) Ltd a locally owned consultancy specialised in secure code review, penetration testing and various forms of engineering support to help people achieve an industry best standard in security engineering and performance. Keith is also a published author, having written "The Android Application Security Cookbook" and "Penetration Testing with the Bash Shell,". His security research contributions include identifying vulnerabilities in widely used software like Google Chrome. Recently, he completed his MSc in Computer Science, focusing on automated vulnerability analysis in binary formats.

I’m a Tech Lead for the Edge team at DataProphet, a South-African company building a real-time data collection and analytics platform for manufacturers. Edge devices are fully remotely managed Linux-based factory appliances that collect data from a variety of datasources.

I’m a passionate supporter of open-source software and a Linux enthusiast.

Co-founder of Murmur Intelligence which maps online narratives and networks for clients in civil society, journalists, academics, governments and beyond.

With over two decades in IT - 15 years focused on cybersecurity - Leon is the CTO of Orange Cyberdefense’s SensePost Team. His career has taken him from a Tier 1 ISP, a private investment bank and now into full-time consulting, giving him a broad, real-world view of security challenges across industries. Today, Leon spends his time researching and hacking everything from enterprise networks to web and mobile applications. Passionate about building and innovating, he’s a regular contributor to the InfoSec community, sharing tools, insights, and lessons learned to help push the field forward.

A software engineer who has spent the last two and a half years dabbling in deception technologies at Thinkst.

I am a computer engineer who is a self-motivated and disciplined individual impassioned by cybersecurity and technology. I'm a hard worker and willing to go the extra mile because I am ambitious, eager to succeed and always enthusiastic to learn. I take pride in what I do and see myself as being conscientious and diligent, with a good work ethic. I am proactive, innovative and "think outside the box".

I have a passion for performing red team exercises, namely simulating real-world advanced cyberattacks where I can employ the latest tactics, techniques and procedures to execute on attacker goals whilst remaining undetected; with the aim of identifying security weaknesses and areas where change can be implemented to enhance security practices.

Rinya is a cybersecurity consultant with a specialisation in mobile application security. Although she holds two degrees in computer science, she realised that she liked breaking things more than creating them. Outside of work, she can be found pampering her cat, knitting or pursuing amateur powerlifting.

Urgh. OK then.... Roelof Temmingh has worked in cybersecurity and Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) for more than 25 years. Trained as an engineer (B.Eng, 1995), he began his career in IT security and penetration testing, co-founding SensePost, one of the early security consultancies, which later became part of Orange Cyberdefense.

He went on to start Paterva, the company that created Maltego, widely used for data visualization and relationship mapping in OSINT investigations. More recently, he founded Vortimo, a tool for improving web research workflows, and is currently building Ubikron, which focuses on applying AI to investigation and intelligence tasks.

Over the years, Roelof has given talks and training in many countries, sharing practical approaches to security and OSINT. He is known for creating tools that emphasize usability and real-world application rather than hype.

Rogan Dawes is a senior researcher at SensePost and has been hacking since 1998, which, coincidentally, is also the time he settled on a final wardrobe. He used the time he saved on choosing outfits to live up to his colleague’s frequent joke that he has an offline copy of the Internet in his head. Rogan spent many years building web application assessment tools, and is credited as having built one of the first and most widely used intercepting proxies; WebScarab. In recent years, Rogan has turned his attentions towards hardware hacking; and these days many suspect him to be at least part cyborg. A good conversation starter is to ask him where he keeps his JTAG header.

Hacker, coder, gamer

TBC

Passionate about cybersecurity, helping upskill others, and generally getting involved in the cybersecurity community!

I have hacked some things, written some things and built some things. Google if interested.

Veer Gosai (20) is a Stellenbosch University 2nd Year Bsc Geoinformatics (Computer Science) student. I've been fortunate enough to work as a Cybersecurity Analyst Intern at both Capitec Bank and Purple Group (EasyEquities). In 2024, I made the massive discovery of fraud in the SASSA SRD Grant System alongside a friend. After many interviews, we eventually made our way to present our findings to the Parliament of South Africa.