Evolving Threat Vectors & Security Validation: Key Takeaways from c0c0n 2026
Every year, security researchers, enterprise defenders, and policy makers gather at c0c0n, India’s premier cybersecurity and hacking conference organized with support from the Kerala Police. Held in Kochi, the 2026 edition brought forward crucial discussions surrounding modern attack surfaces, offensive security tradecraft, and enterprise defense.
For the team at Nemesis, c0c0n 2026 was a natural fit, allowing us to connect with the global infosec community, exchange insights with industry peers, and align current research with our core mission in continuous security validation and threat assessment.
Custom Tooling & Hands-On Training with Markus Vervier
A key highlight of the conference was the technical training delivered by Markus Vervier, co-founder at Nemesis.
Titled “Creating Custom Tooling for Offensive Security after 2025 – Beyond Autopilot Pentesting,” Markus’s session tackled a critical challenge in modern security: why generic, automated scanners fall short when facing hardened production environments.
Key Technical Focus Areas:
Why static vulnerabilities scanning fails against modern defense (EDR, SIEM, and active telemetry).
Building custom, modular tooling tailored to specific environment constraints rather than relying on automated “autopilot” testing.
Moving from basic vulnerability discovery to simulating safe, multi-stage attack chains that stress test actual operational controls.
AI Security: Evaluating LLM Agents, Tool Interfaces & Emerging Pipelines
With AI integration accelerating across enterprise IT, c0c0n 2026 featured dedicated focus areas on AI security, Model Context Protocol (MCP), and LLM Agent Defenses. Talks across the research tracks highlighted how threat actors are pivoting from basic prompt injection to targeting tool-driven AI pipelines, microservices, and automated agent orchestrators.
How Nemesis Addresses This:
As attack surfaces expand into AI workflows and connected infrastructure, traditional system defense is no longer enough. Nemesis helps organizations stay ahead by:
Mapping Complex Exposure: Identifying AI deployments, misconfigured APIs, and exposed agent endpoints across cloud and hybrid environments.
Testing AI Execution: Evaluating whether autonomous LLM agents can be trick-promoted into executing unauthorized system commands, abusing connected API integrations, or leaking sensitive backend data.
Active Directory Exploitation & EDR Bypass Techniques
Across the technical research tracks, speakers demonstrated advanced techniques in identity based attacks, Active Directory exploitations, and endpoint defense bypasses. The overarching theme was clear: adversaries focus on identity and behavior, not just unpatched software bugs.
How Nemesis Approach This:
At Nemesis, our methodology centers on offensive-first security validation:
Continuous Threat Testing: Rather than relying on annual penetration tests, we enable organizations to continuously test whether security controls detect adversary behavior.
Attack Path Validation: Simulating lateral movements and privilege escalation attempts to discover whether critical enterprise assets are reachable before an attacker can exploit them.
Cloud and On-Premise Local AI for High Security Environments
Conversations with enterprise leaders at c0c0n highlighted a growing challenge: balancing AI driven security validation with strict data sovereignty and regulatory requirements. Many organizations in air-gapped, government, or heavily regulated sectors cannot send sensitive infrastructure data to third party cloud LLMs.
How Nemesis Addresses This:
To solve this, Nemesis offers flexible deployment models tailored to organizational privacy needs:
Cloud Platform: Full featured, scalable cloud deployment for continuous, automated attack surface management.
On-Premise Local AI: Runs entirely within your isolated network or air-gapped environment using local AI model, ensuring zero data leaves your premises while keeping full offensive validation capabilities intact.
For us at Nemesis, c0c0n 2026 reinforced our core philosophy: defense shouldn’t just exist on paper, they need to be continuously tested in practice. As threat actors pivot toward identity exploitation, custom tooling, and AI workflows, continuous attack surface validation becomes essential for staying ahead. A massive thank you to the entire c0c0n team, the Kerala Police, the volunteers, and the speakers for putting together an outstanding conference.
