BSides Peoria is a community-run cybersecurity conference brought to Bradley University by the Illinois Cyber Foundation, covering everything from technical deep-dives to policy and compliance. Bishop Fox is glad to be part of BSides Peoria 2026 this year.

Alethe Denis, Senior Security Consultant at Bishop Fox, will deliver the keynote, "The Trophy Is Not the Test: Rethinking What Success Looks Like in Offensive Security." Drawing on years of social engineering, physical security, and red team work across private industry and critical infrastructure, Alethe will unpack what red teams actually learn from an engagement, and why the real value rarely comes from the final objective.

For more details, visit: BSides Peoria 2026

The Trophy Is Not the Test: Rethinking What Success Looks Like in Offensive Security

Speaker: Alethe Denis, Senior Security Consultant, Bishop Fox

Abstract: In offensive security, it’s easy to measure success by the number of compromised accounts, opened doors, or shells obtained. Those moments make for great stories, but they often miss the point.

This keynote explores what red teams actually learn before, during, and after an engagement, and why the most valuable findings rarely come from the final objective. Drawing from years of social engineering, physical security, and red team assessments across private industry and critical infrastructure, Alethe shares how curiosity, observation, preparation, and understanding human behavior consistently reveal the weaknesses that matter most. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how to evaluate security through the lens of resilience rather than trophies, and why helping organizations improve will always be more valuable than proving they can be compromised.