Black Hat Europe has announced its keynote lineup for 2026, with sessions on the gap between AI safety and AI security and on the cybercriminal network behind Scattered Spider and Lapsus$. The event runs from 7 to 10 December at Excel London.
Heidy Khlaaf, chief AI scientist at the AI Now Institute, opens the conference on Wednesday 9 December with a talk titled "AI Security is Not AI Safety: The Co-option and Conflation of Security and Safety Methodology in AI". As frontier AI gains autonomy, she will argue, AI companies are blurring the line between safety and security, which affects overall security posture. Khlaaf will examine how quickly AI agents are being deployed compared with how well they can be secured, and what rigorous assurance should look like before AI is trusted with critical systems.
On Thursday 10 December, cybersecurity journalist and author Kim Zetter speaks with Allison Nixon, chief research officer at Unit 221B, in a session called "Tracking Cybercriminals in 'The Com'". Nixon has spent her career tracking The Com, the ecosystem behind Scattered Spider, Lapsus$ and ShinyHunters, groups attributed to breaches at M&S, Co-op, Harrods, MGM and NVIDIA. With authorities closing in on key members, the pair will discuss how these gangs are unmasked and what defenders should watch for next.
Titanium sponsors of Black Hat Europe 2026 include Broadcom, Concentric AI, Dimension, Frame Security, ThreatLocker and ThreatSpike. Black Hat, founded in 1997, runs events in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia. Programme details and registration are at blackhat.com/europe.
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