> madison, wi · verified sep 27, 2026
Wisconsin
DC608, Madison's DEF CON group, meets in person on the first Thursday of each month at Aftershock Classic Arcade on East Washington Avenue and runs weekly online coding nights, while Madsec holds an informal talk-and-networking evening downtown every few months. ISACA Madison and the statewide ISC2 Wisconsin chapter mostly meet online. UW-Madison hosts the academic Midwest Security Workshop on October 10, 2026, and the one-day WISCON conference returns to the Overture Center on June 17, 2027.
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Sat, Oct 10, 2026
Morgridge Hall, University of Wisconsin-Madison
One-day academic workshop for security and privacy researchers, faculty and students from Midwest universities, with talks, lightning talks and posters. The organizers say registration is typically free and lunch is provided; register through the workshop site. October 10 is UW-Madison Family Weekend, so nearby hotels fill early.
ConfirmedWorkshopFree
Thu, Dec 3, 2026 · Starts 8:00 a.m.
Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, 1 John Nolen Dr, Madison
Adjacent: a state and local government technology summit, not a security-only event; state and university CISOs are among the listed speakers. Run by Government Technology (e.Republic) with vendor sponsors. Registration is free but open to public sector employees only.
ConfirmedSummitFreeVetting requiredVendor-hosted
Wed, Mar 24 to Thu, Mar 25, 2027
Baird Center, Milwaukee · Regional
CFP closes: Sat, Jan 9, 2027
Wisconsin's largest hacker and technology conference, about 80 miles east of Madison. Workshops run March 22 and 23, 2027, and BSidesMKE follows on March 26.
ConfirmedConferencePaid
Fri, Mar 26, 2027
Milwaukee · Regional
Community-run BSides held the day after CypherCon. CypherCon lists tickets starting at $50, with student and first-timer pricing. The 2027 venue is not yet posted; the 2026 edition was at the Baird Center. The ticket banner on the BSidesMKE site also reads 'Sept 2027', which conflicts with the March 26, 2027 date shown on the same page and on CypherCon's call for speakers.
ConfirmedConferencePaid
Fri, Apr 16, 2027
Marquette University, Milwaukee · Regional
Community-run one-day summit on operational technology and ICS security, hosted by Security For the Folks. The 2026 edition (April 24, 2026) was a paid Eventbrite registration; 2027 pricing is not yet posted. The summit's own site, midwest-otcs.org, could not be reached during research.
ConfirmedSummitPaid
Thu, Jun 17, 2027
Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State St, Madison
CFP closes: Sun, Feb 14, 2027
One-day conference with talks, hands-on villages (including lock picking) and a CTF. The call for papers runs December 1, 2026 to February 14, 2027, and tickets go on sale January 1, 2027. The organizers say the inaugural 2026 conference sold out.
ConfirmedConferencePaid
Announced without a date, or expected from past editions. Not confirmed.
Announced by the organizer; date not yet published.
Fox Valley Technical College, D.J. Bordini Center, Appleton (2026 venue) · Regional
Date TBAConferencePaid
Usually held in April or May; the 10th edition was April 8, 2026 at Monona Terrace. 2027 dates not yet announced
Monona Terrace Convention Center, Madison (2026 venue)
ExpectedSummitFreeVendor-hosted
Usually held in May; the 2026 symposium was May 14, 2026. 2027 date not yet announced
Potawatomi Casino Hotel, Milwaukee (2026 venue) · Regional
ExpectedConferencePaid
Usually held in early June; the third edition was June 2, 2026. 2027 date not yet announced
Hyatt Regency Milwaukee (2026 venue) · Regional
ExpectedSummitPaidVendor-hosted
Held annually; the 2026 summit was April 7 and 8, 2026 in Appleton. 2027 dates and location not yet announced
Appleton (2026 location; the host city changes) · Regional
ExpectedSummitPaidVendor-hosted
Madison and southern Wisconsin · In the city
Occasional meetings and happy hours; no meeting scheduled
Privacy and data protection chapter. The IAPP chapter page listed an in-person Summer Kickoff Happy Hour in Madison on June 30, 2026; it now shows no meetings scheduled. KnowledgeNet meetings are free for IAPP members.
Members only
Madison; 2026 sessions held online (Zoom) · In the city
Occasional webinars and meetings; no meeting announced
The chapter held an online webinar, Effective AI Auditing, on July 28, 2026, announced on its LinkedIn page with Zoom registration. Its ISACA Engage calendar lists no scheduled events. Covers audit, cybersecurity, governance, risk, privacy and AI.
Free
Statewide chapter; meetings online · Metro area
Online chapter meetings with a presentation; RSVP through the chapter site; no meeting announced
A newly chartered statewide chapter. Its placeholder site lists a virtual chapter meeting on Tuesday, July 28, at 2:00 p.m. Central with a talk on zero trust for agentic AI, but does not print the year; July 28 falls on a Tuesday in 2026, the chapter's first year. It does not appear in the public ISC2 chapters portal, so there is no events feed to check.
Free
Aftershock Classic Arcade, 1444 E Washington Ave, Madison; weeknight sessions online on Discord · In the city
Monthly meeting on the first Thursday, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at Aftershock Classic Arcade; online coding nights most Mondays at 7:30 p.m.; online red team and blue team nights about once a month
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The group's site lists a monthly Thursday meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Aftershock Classic Arcade, and its Meetup calendar shows the in-person meetings on first Thursdays (September 3 and October 1, 2026). Monday coding nights are online and scheduled on Meetup through March 22, 2027. Talks are also streamed on YouTube.
Free
The Great Dane Pub, 123 E Doty St, Madison (most recent meetings) · In the city
Irregular, every few months on a weeknight evening; networking from 5:30 p.m. and a talk at 6:00 p.m.; no meeting announced
Describes itself as a monthly-ish meeting of infosec practitioners and anyone interested. The April 23, 2026 meeting was a talk on cross-functional incident response in the Great Dane's Rathskeller Room. Individual meetings are often sponsored by local security firms or law firms, which cover drinks and appetizers. The group also runs a Slack workspace.
Free
Statewide; 2025 and 2026 meetups at the Milwaukee Official Cybersecurity Summit · Regional
Occasional meetups, often alongside Milwaukee conferences; no meeting announced
Women in CyberSecurity state affiliate. Its most recent listed gathering was at the Milwaukee Official Cybersecurity Summit on June 2, 2026 (Hyatt Regency Milwaukee), about 80 miles east of Madison; the summit itself requires a ticket. No Madison meetings were found.
Free
Statewide; 2026 member meeting online (GoToWebinar); earlier meetings in Madison and Milwaukee · In the city
Member meetings a few times a year; no meeting announced
FBI public-private partnership chapter; membership requires FBI vetting. The member meetings page lists a February 25, 2026 online meeting (two identical sessions at noon and 7:00 p.m.) that introduced a new board and launched scheduling polls for later 2026 meetings; no later meeting is posted. Past meetings were hosted at UW Health and Alliant Energy in Madison.
Quiet: last activity Feb 2026Members onlyVetting required
University of Wisconsin-Madison campus · In the city
Meetings during the academic year (workshops, speakers, CTFs); schedule shared by email and Discord
Student club open to any enrolled UW-Madison undergraduate or graduate student. Its public meeting log runs through a lockpicking meeting on December 3, 2025 and shows no spring or fall 2026 entries; the club says current plans go out by email and Discord. UW-Madison is an NSA Center of Academic Excellence.
Quiet: last activity Dec 2025Students only
Numbered references for the listings on this page.