Four-day inaugural event draws more than 2,000 Business Hall delegates, 70+ speakers and 200+ senior security and business leaders, with a focus on AI security, digital fraud and emerging cyber threats.
Black Hat India 2026 has concluded its inaugural edition in Bengaluru, bringing together international cybersecurity researchers, practitioners, government representatives and enterprise leaders for four days of technical training, original research and strategic discussions. Organised by Informa Markets in India, the event took place from October 27 to 30 at the Sheraton Grand, Brigade Gateway.
The debut marks the expansion of the globally recognised Black Hat conference series into one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies. The programme featured 13 specialised training courses delivered by 19 trainers, more than 70 Summit speakers and over 200 CXOs, CISOs and VIP buyers. The Business Hall attracted more than 2,000 delegates.
The event’s technical programme included 35 researchers and practitioners presenting original work across emerging threats, software and cloud security, artificial intelligence and digital identity. Black Hat Arsenal featured 44 open-source security tool demonstrations across 32 workstations and four hands-on labs, giving participants opportunities to interact directly with developers and explore practical security applications.
Summit Day focused on two tracks—Frontier AI Security and CISO Strategy—examining the changing threat landscape, enterprise risk and the expanding responsibilities of security leaders. Keynotes were delivered by Dr. Sanjay Bahl, Director General of CERT-In and Controller of Certifying Authorities, and Nathan Hamiel, Senior Director of Research at Kudelski Security. Rajesh Kumar, CEO of the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Home Affairs, delivered a special address on transnational cybercrime.
“The scale of participation and quality of discussions reflect the strong appetite for a platform of this calibre.”
— Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets in India
Former National Cyber Security Coordinators Lt. Gen. Rajesh Pant and Lt. Gen. M.U. Nair, along with senior government and industry representatives, also participated. Organisations represented included NPCI, RBI, NCIIPC, PhonePe, CRED, Razorpay, Groww, Microsoft, Mandiant, Akamai, Zscaler and Zoho.
Discussions highlighted the security implications of AI adoption, digital payment fraud, deepfakes, software supply-chain vulnerabilities and the protection of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure. Post-quantum readiness and the need to translate technical vulnerabilities into business risks also featured prominently.
Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets in India, said India’s digital expansion must be matched by stronger security and resilience. Citing more than 24,000 crore UPI transactions worth over ₹314 lakh crore in the last financial year and over 29.4 lakh cybersecurity incidents reported by CERT-In in 2025, he described the successful debut as an important addition to India’s cybersecurity ecosystem.
The event was supported by Diamond Partners TrendAI, Upwind and EY, alongside other sponsors and exhibitors. Its inaugural edition also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Informa Markets’ presence in India.
The launch establishes a new platform connecting India’s cybersecurity community with global research, technical expertise and industry leadership at a time when rapid digitalisation and AI adoption are expanding the country’s cyber risk landscape.