---
title: "Erez Yalon – AppSec Village – 5 Minute AppSec"
url: https://appsecpodcast.com/erez-yalon-appsec-village-5-minute-appsec/
date: 2019-07-29
duration_seconds: 90
guests: ["Erez Yalon"]
topics: ["Conferences and Community"]
audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1730684/episodes/8122636-erez-yalon-appsec-village-5-minute-appsec.mp3
transcript: true
---

# Erez Yalon – AppSec Village – 5 Minute AppSec

*July 29, 2019 · 2 min*

with [Erez Yalon](https://appsecpodcast.com/guests/erez-yalon/)

on [Conferences and Community](https://appsecpodcast.com/topics/conferences-and-community/)

[Audio](https://www.buzzsprout.com/1730684/episodes/8122636-erez-yalon-appsec-village-5-minute-appsec.mp3)

## Show notes

Why did DEF CON have villages for specialized security communities but no home dedicated to application security? Erez Yalon explains how that recurring question became AppSec Village. After several years of waiting for someone else to create it, he decided to act and invited Liora Herman, whose strength with operational details complemented his idea, to join the volunteer effort. Their partnership turned a missing conference space into a focused community for application security practitioners, researchers, and builders. This brief origin story captures a useful lesson about security communities: when an important forum does not exist, committed volunteers can stop asking why and build the place they want to attend.

The Application Security Podcast is brought to you by [Security Journey](https://www.securityjourney.com/).

About Security Journey  
Security Journey provides application security education for developers and everyone in the software development lifecycle.  
→ [Learn more about Security Journey](https://www.securityjourney.com/)

Connect with Erez Yalon:  
→ [Erez Yalon on LinkedIn](https://il.linkedin.com/in/erezyalon)  
→ [AppSec Village](https://www.appsecvillage.com/)

Mentioned in this episode:  
→ [AppSec Village](https://www.appsecvillage.com/)  
→ [DEF CON](https://defcon.org/)  
→ [Black Hat](https://www.blackhat.com/)

Chapters:  
00:00 Why create an AppSec Village?  
00:20 The missing village at DEF CON  
00:41 Turning the idea into a volunteer project  
01:17 Continue with the full AppSec Village interview

## Transcript

*235 words · assemblyai*

**0:00 Chris Romeo:** It's Black Hat and DEF CON season, and as folks are making their way to Las Vegas, we want to ask a question of our guest today, Erez Yalon, and this is in regards to the AppSec Village. This is the first year they're doing the AppSec Village at DEF CON, and so our question for Erez is, why did you start the AppSec Village?

**0:19** I've been going to DEF CON for several years now, and I think that from the first time I noticed there are villages, I'm not even sure it was the first time I went there, I said, hey, why there's no Upsec village? And then the next year I said, wow, there's still no Upsec village.

**0:41 Erez Yalon:** Wouldn't it be cool if there would be an Upsec village? And more years came and went and nobody did it. So I thought maybe I should create an Upsec village. And as Leora She's the queen of details that I know, was the perfect partner for that. I just asked her if she would be willing to take this volunteer adventure with me, and I was very happy to realize that she would. And this is how the AppSec Village started.

**1:16 Chris Romeo:** We did a full interview with Erez and Liora where we talked about all things AppSec Village. So tune in to hear that episode. And remember, security's a journey, not a destination.

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Source: https://appsecpodcast.com/erez-yalon-appsec-village-5-minute-appsec/