nicole perlroth

• This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race
  Based on her award-winning bestseller, Perlroth takes audiences into the shadows of the unguided, unregulated global market for Zero-Day exploits. She explains why the weaponization of software vulnerabilities leaves every business, utility, and bank inherently exposed to collateral damage from nation-state skirmishes.

• The New Frontline: Geopolitics, Supply Chains, and Corporate Warfare

  Geopolitical rivals are no longer just hacking for intelligence; they are "prepositioning" inside critical infrastructure to execute destructive attacks in a future conflict. Perlroth explains why the corporate supply chain is the primary target and how leaders can protect their assets when private networks become geopolitical battlefields.

• To Catch a Thief: China's Leap to Cyber and AI Dominance

  Drawing on her deep investigative podcast and research, Perlroth outlines China's aggressive, coordinated decades-long campaign of intellectual property theft and technological espionage. She provides organizations with crucial context to navigate supply chain risks, joint ventures, and technological competition.

• Inside the Tent: Bridging the Gap Between Washington and Silicon Valley

  Perlroth discusses her transition from exposing government cyber gaps to actively serving on the CISA Advisory Committee. She outlines how public-private partnerships must evolve to protect national security, demanding a radical cultural shift toward collective defense and shared intelligence.

speaker Bio: 

Nicole Perlroth is an award-winning investigative journalist, bestselling author, and cyber security strategist who spent thirteen years leading the cybersecurity coverage for The New York Times. Her reporting repeatedly catalyzed federal indictments of state-sponsored hackers and exposed the underground trade of zero-day exploits, earning her a Pulitzer Prize nomination and establishing her as one of the most influential chroniclers of modern cyber warfare. Her landmark book, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends, was named the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year, inducted into the Cybersecurity Canon Hall of Fame, and heralded as the definitive account of the digital arms race.

In 2021, Perlroth pivoted from journalism to direct policy, joining the Advisory Committee of CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) and the Council on Foreign Relations' Cyber Task Force to help draft new frameworks for national cyber defense. She currently serves as a Venture Partner at Ballistic Ventures and Managing Director of Silver Buckshot, her cyber mission fund. A graduate of Princeton and Stanford universities, Perlroth regularly lectures at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, helping corporate boards, investors, and policymakers understand the strategic risks of a hyper-digitized global economy.

Summary (Core Conviction):

Perlroth represents a rare breed of speaker: a brilliant storyteller who has embedded with the world's most elite hackers, spies, and defense officials to uncover the hidden infrastructure of cyber warfare. Her signature framework exposes the systematic danger of the zero-day market: because governments hoard software vulnerabilities for espionage rather than fixing them, the entire digital economy remains profoundly fragile. On stage, she delivers a compelling, cinematic, yet intensely practical presentation. She challenges boardrooms to abandon passive compliance and adopt an aggressive posture of active defense and resilience, making her an indispensable speaker for organizations operating in high-risk global markets.

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