Call for Papers

SecSea 2k24

  • What : SecSea is a technical conference about Hacking.
  • When :  October 11th and 12th, 2024
  • Where : Théatre Eden, La Ciotat, France

SecSea is a non commercial, community organized event, with talks and workshops by the community for the community. This Call for Proposals (CfP) is an invitation to submit your ideas.

In order to minimize the work for the team, and help us get the best content, please follow the submission guidelines. Thank you for submitting your talk, workshop or event!

Submission Guidelines

Topics

Any topic you think might be interesting for the hacking community!

SecSea has activities relating to :

  • Exploitation and mitigation techniques
  • Reverse engineering (hardware, software, protocols…)
  • Vulnerability research (operating systems, smartphones, hypervisors…)
  • Hacking tools/software,
  • Cryptographic attacks and/or analysis (including protocols)
  • Attacks on distributed networks and/or protocols (including proof-of-work algorithms)
  • Privacy
  • Social Engineering
  • Information Security
  • Technology & Society
  • Electronic Arts

And, obviously, if you have a brilliant and/or alternative idea, just SUBMIT !

Content

We highly value both original, never seen before stuff and tried and tested, as long as it is interesting for the SecSea community. Also, we are eager to have both novice and expert level content. Introductory talks might be valuable for newbies. SecSea is the place to broaden but also deepen you knowledge.

Speakers

Typical people submitting to our CFP are:

  • contributors to security projects,
  • researchers who found vulnerabilities,
  • hackers,

Both academic and non-academic speakers are welcome.

Talks Formats

You can propose:

  • a long talk (40 min – questions/answers included),
  • a short talk (20 min – questions/answers included),
  • rump sessions (10 min – questions/answers included),
  • workshops (3 hours, the morning)

Language

All the talks will be given in English in order to share the conference with non French speaking speakers in the most comfortable manner. But, if you are addressing a local topic, do not hesitate to submit anyway. If English is challenging for you, let us know and we will try to find a solution together.

Limitation

  • No commercial talks will be accepted (it is ok to use the logo of you company though)
  • No advertisement for products during the talk (but of course you can mention which tools and products you use)
  • Hacking talks without demo or proof of concept (where applicable) are less likely to be accepted
  • Give credit where credit is due! Cite your sources of information and acknowledge other peoples work.

Timeline

The important dates are :

  • Submission deadline: When we want to 😀
  • Speakers notification: Within 1 week max
  • Program publication : Starting 15th of August, regularly updated as talks are accepted.

Submission

For your submission you will have to provide:

  • an abstract for your talk/event/workshop
  • speaker bio
  • a detailed outline.

Optionally you can also provide supporting files. If you need special equipment please make sure to note it under special requirements.

The abstract must summarize your talk. We will publish the abstract on our website. Visitors will decide to come to your events based on the abstract so please make it clear and to the point. Please describe which level of technical expertise your event requires, what tools you use and anything your audience can and should do beforehand to get the most out of it. Make sure to be explicit what people can expect, but no spoilers! Experience shows that good abstracts have at least 200 characters, but do not exceed the magic number of 1337 characters.

In the speaker bios present yourself and/or the crew. It is up to you whether you use your handle/nick or your full name. Do provide some background information about yourself and your areas of interest and expertise. This will make it easier for like-minded people to find you.

The detailed outline will not be published, but it will be an important element for the reviewers to decide if you talk fits the conference schedule or not. It must contain the main points of your talk and show how you introduce the topic, what your core ideas are and how you conclude your presentation. Make sure to be precise and detailed. If the reviewers cannot reproduce your ideas or verify your content your talk is less likely to get accepted. Also make sure to reference any prior work you build upon. In particular, if your work is not original but introduces topics to beginners make sure to name your sources. Also make it clear what the audience of your talk is (tech beginners, experienced red teamers, seasoned artist …you get what we mean 😉 )

Now to the MOST IMPORTANT POINT: JUST DO IT! Maybe you never gave a talk or held a workshop, think that you have nothing interesting to say, or all of these rules and requirements sound very scary. Do not worry, just do it! If you need help with deciding whether to submit, if you idea is welcome, or juts need help with the required parts, contact us! We will be very proud if SecSea is the place your did your first public talk or workshop!

Special Notes

  • Compensation:
    SecSea is a community-organized and community-supported event without external sponsors. We are therefore not able to provide compensation for travel. However, we can cover accommodation cost and will organize transport from the airport in Marseille to La Ciotat and back for you.
  • Recordings:
    It is up to you whether your talk will be recorded and made available online. While we prefer to have recordings shared with the world in order to reach as many interested people as possible, choosing either way will not affect the selection process.
  • Review process:
    All submission will be judged on the quality of content and fit within the program. We will use a double-blind process to prevent bias on race, gender or any other feature of the authors. The organizers however reserve the right to make changes to the event program or disregard any proposal if found inappropriate for the conference.
  • Visa
    Citizens of some countries require a visa to enter France. We can provide you with an invitation letter which will help you with the Visa process. Please check to find out if you need a visa: https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en_US/web/france-visas/ai-je-besoin-d-un-visa ! In our experience getting a visa takes usually about one month.
  • Passport validity:
    Please make sure that your passport is valid for at least 3 month after the period of travel.

Speakers Support

Our goal is to make possible for all lecturers to come in confidence, get rid of most of their practical questions to be able to take advantage of the event in the most open way.

In order to achieve this goal, we provide:

  • a dedicated private mailing list on which we provide complete information (how to come, to find accommodations, to do their talk, to contact us, to be reimbursed etc.),
  • a full contact list and a fast feedback loop: in order to be able to get in touch and have answers quickly from the org team.