OpenSSL Conference 2026 set off in the capital city of Prague, Czech Republic, on 13 October 2026 with what sounds like a cryptic theme: “The Křižík Effect”.
It is named after a Czech engineer, František Křižík who improved the electric arc lamp and helped introduce the electric tramways, transforming electricity into infrastructure – into something that everyday people could use.
Cryptography that lies at the foundation of secure internet communication is the very same kind of infrastructure.
Infrastructure, which Anton Arapov , the Director and Treasurer of OpenSSL Corporation, notes is “only visible to most people when it fails”.
Scaling AI for Sensitive Data with Databricks and Valcon
The world's most powerful AI lives in the public cloud, but the world's most sensitive data is not allowed to leave the building.
Instead of forcing sensitive data out of the cloud, Valcon , a leading European consultancy specialising in AI and data-driven business transformation, has teamed up with Databricks to offer the Disconnected Data Platform (DDP) to customers operating in sensitive or regulated environments.
The DDP offers an on-premise, air-gapped data solution through which enterprises can securely harness modern AI, advanced analytics and cloud-tier data management directly behind their own firewalls, ensuring their most sensitive information never has to leave the building.
Simon de Timary , Head of Data at Valcon, tells Cyber Magazine: “We wanted to provide organisations with a viable compromise; a disconnected data platform that works alongside their cloud infrastructure, to ensure their most sensitive workloads can always run unimpeded with their data fully protected.”
OpenSSL: Open-Source Security and the Explosion of AI Bugs
A running theme in the technology sector today is paying off the technical debt that has been piling up since the advent of code.
OpenSSL is no exception to the rule, having closed more than 600 long-standing code issues in the past year, with the help of the Sovereign Tech Agency – a German public-interest organisation that helps maintain open-source infrastructure.
The developer interest in the software is ever growing, with the number of open pull requests in OpenSSL touching 558 at the start of October 2026, up from 309 requests same time last year.
But the truth, as Matt Caswell , Executive Director of the OpenSSL Foundation , points out in his opening talk on Day three of the OpenSSL Conference in Prague, is that security reports have now become “cheap to write” but they are still expensive “to assess”.
AI in Open-Source Cryptography: Auditor, Not Author
AI has dramatically changed most people’s daily workflows, but what are its effects in open-source cryptography?
To answer this question, some of the most prominent names in the field joined the AI in Open-Source Cryptography panel to compare notes on day three of the OpenSSL Conference 2026 in Prague, Czech Republic.
The panellists included David Hook , Co-Founder and Lead Developer of The Legion of the Bouncy Castle , Dr Peter Gutmann , Computer Scientist and Founder of cryptlib , Megan Woods , who is a maintainer of Bouncy Castle as well as the Lead Engineer behind Jostle and Neil Horman , Software Engineer at OpenSSL .
Neil’s “personal favourite” use of AI is to treat it like a “junior engineer or intern”. “I'm still very nervous using it in any sort of automated sense to [analyse] security reports,” Neil says.
Cryptography Legend Tim Hudson on Software Security
Many people treat software security as a concern for the final stages of development. The application is tested and reviewed before it is released. I think that is too late.
Developers have selected libraries, added dependencies and decided which components will sit inside an application that may remain in use for years.
Those choices can be difficult to revisit once software is running across an organisation.
That makes an earlier question much more useful: what are we building this software on, and can we continue to trust those foundations after it ships?
Anton Arapov Director, Treasurer & Secretary
Director, Treasurer & Secretary
David Hook Co-Founder and Lead Developer
Co-Founder and Lead Developer
Dr. Peter Gutmann Founder and Maintainer
Founder and Maintainer
Matt Caswell Executive Director
Megan Woods Senior Software Engineer
Senior Software Engineer
Neil Horman Software Engineer
AI in Open-Source Cryptography: Auditor, Not Author Technology & AI
The Explosion of AI Bugs: Is it Time to Outgrow CVSS? Cyber Security
Top 10: Cloud Security Companies Cloud Security
OpenSSL Conference: AI, Quantum and the Future of Encryption Cyber Security
The full story
This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.
