March 13, 2025
This paid piece is sponsored by Dakota State University.
“DakotaCon definitely impacted my career in a positive way,” said Mike Saunders, principal consultant at the information security consulting firm Red Siege.
He’s also an experienced international speaker, thanks to the Dakota State University cybersecurity conference.
Attending DakotaCon gave Mike Saunders the confidence to become an international speaker and penetration tester. The 12th annual cybersecurity conference takes place March 21-23 at DSU.
Ten years ago, “I was unaware of the information security community that exists across the country,” he said. “Attending DakotaCon and (other cons like) DerbyCon showed me there was this community of like-minded people who had a passion for learning and sharing knowledge.”
Because DakotaCon is relatively small, attendees have an opportunity to talk with speakers. At DakotaCon III, Saunders was able to share an idea for a potential talk with one of the presenters.
Saunders hadn’t done any conference talks up to that point, but the speaker “assured me that the topic was relevant and encouraged me to start submitting it to conferences. That gave me the confidence to submit, which led to my first real speaking opportunity.” He is now a highly regarded and experienced international speaker with notable cybersecurity talks at conferences such as DerbyCon, Circle City Con, SANS Enterprise Summit and NorthSec.
He also discovered an interest in penetration testing, and serving as one of the red team operators for the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition gave him the confidence to move into the penetration testing field.
“His whole career came from what he discovered here at DakotaCon,” said Dr. Kyle Cronin, associate professor at Dakota State and one of the organizers of the annual event, which is now in its 12th year.
For Saunders, “the support and willingness to share information that I experienced at DakotaCon helped inform my passion for helping share knowledge with others so that I can give back to the community. That’s why I’m passionate about supporting DakotaCon. I really feel I wouldn’t be where I’m at in my career if I hadn’t attended DakotaCon III.”
Because the conference exposes those attending to new things and removes barriers, “this a great venue for someone who wants to explore the field of cybersecurity,” Cronin said.
DakotaCon specifically benefits Dakota State students by providing outside perspectives so they can see and hear about cutting-edge applied research from someone other than the faculty and instructors. This helps reinforce what they are learning in the classroom. It also has been a recruitment tool for the university. High school students attend DakotaCon because they want to discover what they could be, and they can talk with industry leaders even before going to college.
The advantages extend beyond DSU to everyone who attends the event. “Cybersecurity is something that everybody is doing and needs to know about,” Cronin said. “It’s why we are excited to have partners who help with the cost so that all the talks on Friday can be free.” Sponsors include SBS CyberSecurity, East River Electric, KRB, SDN Communications, Antisyphon Training and the UND Center for Cyber Security Research.
DakotaCon is organized by a committee of Dakota State faculty members. DakotaCon 12 is scheduled for March 21-23 and includes three full days of talks and trainings from leading experts in the security world. The conference is relatively small, so it provides an opportunity to interact directly with the speakers and security peers.
The talks on Friday are free. In addition to Saunders, other speakers include a keynote address from Gaurav Khanna of Cisco, a pioneer in designing and implementing predictive and generative AI systems in sales at Cisco.
Mats Nordlund, head of the AI Labs at AI Sweden, speaks to DakotaCon attendees at the 2024 event.
Alumnus Gerry Auger, one of the first to earn a Ph.D. in cyber operations from Dakota State, will speak on “What ‘Game of Thrones’ Can Teach Us About Cybersecurity.” He is the host of the podcast “SimplyCyber,” where he shares, promotes and curates cybersecurity resources to help individuals start or accelerate careers in the field.
Trainings are also a part of DakotaCon.
“This year, we are partnering with Antisyphon and Black Hills Information Security for the trainings,” Cronin said.
The organizations are known for training, and as a local organization, “we are leveraging what we have in our own backyard,” he said.
“They are very good and have a very experienced group of folks coming.”
There is a charge for the trainings, which are held in the Beacom Institute of Technology.
On Saturday, the competition DakotaConquest will take place. This is an entirely student-motivated and student-run competition.
Dakota Conquest is a student-run competition at DakotaCon, which also offers training to business professionals and students.
“They develop and run the competition on their own,” Cronin said. “It’s both a hack and defend and a capture the flag,” he explained, and is open to anyone.
For information on DakotaCon 12, click here.
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