SECTOR 2026, Canada’s largest cybersecurity conference, closed in Toronto with landmark attendance and a notable 22% year-on-year growth in interest. The event drew over 6,500 verified attendees to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for 40 Briefings selected by the SecTor Review Board, alongside a full day of Summits, more than 50 Sponsored Insights and 36 Arsenal tool demos.
In remarks on the evolving security landscape, Suzy Pallett, President of Black Hat, highlighted that AI-driven conversations and threats against civil society dominated discussions, signalling a rapid shift in the industry’s focus and urgency.
Key sessions emphasised the impact of AI on both civil society and enterprise security. Ron Deibert, Director of The Citizen Lab, revealed that only 4% of threat intelligence reports concentrate on civil society despite evidence of widespread government targeting of journalists, activists and human rights defenders. Helen Oakley explored the rise of AI agents and questioned who or what holds decision-making authority inside enterprise systems, stressing that capability does not equal authority.
The AI x Cloud Security Summit showcased a live demonstration of defenders detecting AI agent activity minutes before critical actions, while the Executive Summit underscored the need for clear authority in incident response as AI accelerates attacks. The conference also featured a Startup Spotlight, with Spotlight Security announced as the winner, and a note that the company will be invited to participate in the forthcoming Global Startup Spotlight at Black Hat USA 2027.