Erez Yalon and Liora Herman – The Application Security Village @ DefCon

What would an application security conference look like inside DEF CON? Erez Yalon and Liora Herman explain how a volunteer idea became the Application Security Village, a dedicated space for talks, workshops, demonstrations, and community at one of security’s largest gatherings. They describe the gap they saw between traditional DEF CON villages and the needs of AppSec practitioners, then discuss winning support, recruiting volunteers, and designing content for both newcomers and experienced professionals. The conversation covers workshops, project showcases, and the practical challenges of building an inclusive event from scratch. Erez and Liora close by inviting listeners to participate, contribute, and use the village as a place to learn directly from the people creating application security tools and practices.

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Connect with Erez Yalon and Liora Herman:
→ Erez Yalon on LinkedIn
→ Liora Herman on LinkedIn
→ Application Security Village

Mentioned in this episode:
→ Application Security Village
→ DEF CON
→ OWASP Foundation

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Chapters:
00:00 Creating an Application Security Village
02:16 How Erez and Liora joined forces
05:51 Building a volunteer-driven event
08:42 Villages as conferences within DEF CON
10:48 Getting support from DEF CON
13:27 Designing content for the AppSec community
16:03 Workshops and hands-on topics
18:42 Where to find updates and participate
21:49 A village for newcomers and experts