Guide to the Cybersecurity Ecosystem

Where do you go to understand the cybersecurity world? This guide collects some of the news sources, maps, reports, government programs, challenges, conferences, and communities worth knowing.

Cybersecurity News

Krebs on Security — Investigative reporting on cybercrime, security breaches, fraud, and the people behind them.

Dark Reading — Cybersecurity news and analysis covering threats, vulnerabilities, security operations, and enterprise security.

The Record — Reporting on cybersecurity, cybercrime, intelligence, and national security.

Maps, Careers & the Cybersecurity Field

Cyber Domain Map — A visual map of the cybersecurity field and its many disciplines and specialties.

CyberSeek — Cybersecurity career pathways, workforce information, and an interactive U.S. cybersecurity jobs heat map.

Reports & Data

Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) — One of the major annual analyses of security incidents and data breaches. Verizon has now published its 2026 DBIR.

ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study — Annual research on cybersecurity careers, hiring, skills, staffing, and workforce trends. The current study is based on responses from more than 16,000 cybersecurity practitioners and decision-makers.

Government & Public Interest

DOJ Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) — The Justice Department section that investigates and prosecutes computer and intellectual-property crime and provides expertise on electronic evidence and cybercrime.

Rewards for Justice — Cyber — U.S. State Department rewards for information concerning certain malicious cyber actors and activities.

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog — CISA’s authoritative list of vulnerabilities known to have been exploited in the wild.

Challenges & Hands-On Cybersecurity

NSA Codebreaker Challenge — The NSA’s annual cybersecurity challenge built around realistic technical problems.

Projects to Watch

Akrites — A new coordinated effort to help remediate vulnerabilities in critical open-source software.

Conferences & Community

RSAC Conference — The big-tent cybersecurity industry conference: practitioners, vendors, researchers, policy, business, and emerging technology.

Black Hat — Technical security research, training, briefings, tools, and the security industry.

DEF CON — Hacker community, security research, villages, contests, and hands-on experimentation.

WiCyS — Cybersecurity careers, professional development, recruiting, and community, with a particular focus on advancing women in cybersecurity.

Security BSides — Community-driven security conferences held in cities around the world.