GoSec Montreal Welcomes Former CIA Officer for Its 24th Edition

Montreal's must-attend cybersecurity conference, marking its 24^th edition, returns on September 23 and 24, bringing together strategic and technical experts, including Ross Young, former CIA officer who is now a corporate CISO and the Quebec researchers behind some of the industry's most-cited threat research. 

MONTREAL, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Global cybersecurity spending is projected to reach $240 billion USD in 2026, up 12.5% from 2025, according to Gartner. In Quebec, data breach notifications to the Commission d'accès à l'information (CAI) jumped 75% in a single year, and that only counts what got reported. More money going in, more incidents coming out: that paradox is the reason GoSec exists.

For 24 years, GoSec has built its reputation by bringing together, on the same stage, the people who live this paradox every day: the decision-makers who must turn threats into business decisions, and the practitioners doing the technical work behind the scenes.

Built for the boardroom and the technical floor
GoSec 2026, held at the Montreal Convention Centre, expects more than 1,500 attendees, including 25% executives and senior leaders, with 85 speakers and panelists on a main stage and three concurrent tracks.

"Every speaker on our stage has managed a situation most attendees will only ever read about in an incident report. That's the perspective we built GoSec to deliver," says Julien Turcot, Chief Revenue Officer at GoSec.

A Former CIA Officer Takes Center Stage in the 2026 Program
This year, GoSec welcomes Ross Young, a former CIA intelligence officer who went on to become a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) in the private sector, a rare career path that has led him to apply the threat analysis skills he developed within the world's largest intelligence agency to the corporate world.

Young joins a lineup that also includes John Strand, Amy Yee, and Ira Winkler, a multi-award-winning CISO, one of the industry's most sought-after speakers, and a best-selling author.

This edition continues a tradition that began 24 years ago, one that has already brought to the GoSec stage former Canadian Prime Minister The Right Honourable Stephen Harper; retired four-star Admiral William J. Fallon, former commander of U.S. Central Command; and retired Admiral James Stavridis, currently vice president of global affairs at The Carlyle Group; Retired Admiral James Stavridis, now vice president of global affairs at The Carlyle Group; Stuart McClure, founder of Cylance and lead author of Hacking Exposed; Nadir Izrael, co-founder and chief technology officer of Armis; and Monica Verma, a three-time CISO and ranked among Europe's top security leaders.

Local talent: a tradition of showcasing homegrown experts
Year after year, GoSec makes a point of spotlighting Québec-based researchers whose work is cited far beyond the province's borders. This edition features Olivier Bilodeau, who leads the cybersecurity research team at Flare, and Andréanne Bergeron, a trained criminologist turned cybersecurity researcher. Their joint research on attacker behaviour is now cited by security teams around the world.

Registration and Media Accreditation
Registration for GoSec 2026 is still open. The full program is available at gosec.net.

Interviews with speakers can be arranged before or during the event. Press credentials and visual materials are available upon request.

Details 
Date: September 23–24, 2026
Location: Montreal Convention Centre
Registration: www.gosec.net

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SOURCE GoSec Conference