March 18, 2026

DakotaCon, now in its 13th year, will take place on Friday, March 27 at the Dakota Prairie Playhouse. Structured as an smaller conference experience, attendees will have a chance to connect directly with speakers and dive deeper into the topics shaping today's cybersecurity landscape.

The one-day event, which begins at 9 a.m. Friday, will feature sessions with:

• Rob "Mubix" Fuller
• Mike Saunders, Red Siege
• Hemanth Tadepalli, May Mobility
• Dalal Alharthi, University of Arizona
• John "Darth Vader" Bonar '22 and '24, Collins Aerospace
• Bailey Belisario '20 and '21, Neuvik
• Jordan Arndt '21, Cerulean Cyber Consulting
• Gaelin Shupe '22 and '23, Battelle
• Jaden Evanger, North Dakota Information Technology Department

Additional speaker information and a schedule of events can be found at DakotaCon.org. The conference will conclude with a free reception at 6 p.m. in the Beacom Institute of Technology for all speakers, sponsors, and Dakota State University alumni.

"I'm excited for DakotaCon's 13th year; we have an amazing set of speakers in topics all across the cybersecurity realm, from product engineering, artificial intelligence, red teaming, and vehicle safety." said Kyle Cronin, associate professor and department chair for cyber defense in The Beacom College of Computer & Cyber Sciences. "The DakotaCon community is an amazing and supportive group dedicated to sharing knowledge and making our world safer."

In addition to Friday's conference, attendees are encouraged to attend Dakota Conquest at the Dakota Prairie Playhouse on Saturday, March 28.

Free and open to the public, registration is suggested to allow for a head count in planning. Silver Sponsors for the event are East River Electric Power Cooperative and SBS Cyber Security. Anti-Syphon, Cerulean Cyber, KBR, Inc., SentinelOne, SDN Communications, and the UND Center for Cyber Security Research are bronze sponsors.

Tags: All News Cyber The Beacom College of Computer & Cyber Sciences