EC-Council provides complimentary Hacker Halted 2026 entry for women in cybersecurity, acknowledging their expanding impact on cyber defense.
ATLANTA, GA, UNITED STATES, September 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — EC-Council, the organization behind the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification and a worldwide leader promoting Cybersecurity and Responsible AI via its Adopt. Defend. Govern. (ADG) Framework, has announced free admission for women working in cybersecurity to Hacker Halted 2026
Hacker Halted is EC-Council’s top annual cybersecurity gathering, uniting practitioners, researchers, executives, and technology leaders around the newest advancements in both offensive and defensive security.
Scheduled for October 8 – 9 at The Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta, this free admission effort enables a greater number of women to take part directly in this technical setting and interact with the concepts, individuals, and emerging security issues that define the field.
Women working in cybersecurity can obtain complimentary conference access by signing up here: Hacker Halted 2026 and applying the discount code WC26.
This offer covers conference entry; separate costs and eligibility conditions may be relevant for pre-conference workshops and other optional activities.
Hacker Halted 2026 will showcase:
– Over 20 talks, panel conversations, and breakout sessions tackling vital and new cybersecurity topics
– Two days of professional networking and direct interaction throughout the cybersecurity community
– Technical viewpoints spanning offensive security, threat intelligence, application security, AI and LLM security, security architecture, incident response, and enterprise cyber risk
– Cybersecurity experts and researchers from organizations such as Citi, Amazon, Microsoft, and Coupa Software
– Hands-on and practitioner-guided conversations centered on the realities of protecting increasingly intricate digital environments
Continuing from Hacker Halted 2025, with its theme “Order from Chaos,” which aimed to bring more clarity and structure to an increasingly complex and unpredictable threat landscape, the 2026 edition “Cyber Carnival: Where Illusion Meets Intrusion” moves the discussion from navigating chaos to seeing through deception.
This theme places stronger emphasis on the discernment, curiosity, and critical thinking needed as AI and other technologies make digital interactions more sophisticated.
“Cybersecurity is entering an era where trust, judgment, and clarity will be just as important as detection,” said Jay Bavisi, Founder & Group President, EC-Council. “That is exactly what this year’s Hacker Halted theme, ‘Cyber Carnival: Where Illusion Meets Intrusion,’ is designed to explore. As AI and emerging technologies reshape how threats appear and evolve, the conference creates an important space for practitioners to exchange ideas, sharpen their thinking, and learn from one another. We also want more women in cybersecurity to be part of those technical conversations and help shape how the industry responds.”
Qualified information security executives at the director level and above may also seek approval to attend EC-Council’s Global CISO Forum 2026*.
EC-Council Global CISO Forum is a private, invitation-only gathering for C-suite and senior information security leaders from various industries and regions. Created for honest, peer-to-peer dialogue, this forum brings together director-level and above security executives, CCISO professionals, and invited experts to address the most critical cybersecurity issues.
*Registration for EC-Council’s Global CISO Forum is subject to eligibility and approval.
About EC-Council
Established in 2001, EC-Council is a worldwide cybersecurity and AI organization dedicated to developing the skills, capabilities, and systems necessary for a more secure digital future.
EC-Council launched the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) program and has certified over 400,000 professionals across 174 countries. Its programs and credentials are utilized by government, defense, enterprise, and academic institutions worldwide.
As an ISO/IEC 17024 accredited certification body, EC-Council’s qualifications are acknowledged by the U.S. Department of Defense under DoD Directive 8140 and are held by professionals in the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and major global organizations.
As cybersecurity and AI merge, EC-Council is promoting Responsible AI through its proprietary Adopt. Defend. Govern. (ADG) Framework, combining people, process, and technology to assist organizations in responsibly adopting AI, protecting digital environments, and governing new technologies with greater accountability.
The EC-Council ecosystem comprises EC-Council, EC-Council University (ECCU), CodeRed, EC-Council Global Services (EGS), EC-Council Academia, and Aware.
About Hacker Halted
Hacker Halted is EC-Council’s yearly cybersecurity conference that unites practitioners, researchers, executives, and technology leaders to explore the changing realities of offensive and defensive security.
The event includes technical presentations, panel discussions, breakout sessions, hands-on activities, and professional exchange across areas like threat intelligence, application security, AI and LLM security, incident response, security architecture, and enterprise cyber risk.
Each year, Hacker Halted is centered on a theme that mirrors the shifting threat environment and the difficulties confronting modern defenders. The 2026 edition, “Cyber Carnival: Where Illusion Meets Intrusion,” investigates how deception, manipulation, AI, and emerging technologies are transforming the creation, detection, and defense against cyber threats.
For further details, visit hackerhalted.com
About EC-Council's Global CISO Forum
EC-Council Global CISO Forum is a private, invitation-only event that assembles top-level executives from across industries and nations to deliberate on the most urgent issues in information security.
Invite-only and closed-door: attendance is limited to CCISO certification holders, CCISO students, EC-Council-invited security practitioners, and director-level or above information security executives, and marketers or business development professionals aren’t permitted to attend.
Purpose: it’s designed as a strategic venue for peer-to-peer exchange and deep dialogue among the world’s C-suite and senior security leaders on the most pressing challenges in cybersecurity. The closed-door nature exists specifically to create an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality that enables open exchange of lessons learned, failures, and forward-looking strategies.
Format: closed-door sessions, interactive discussions, and curated roundtables.
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