Cobalt Named Winner of the Coveted Global InfoSec Awards during RSA Conference 2025
'This recognition by Cyber Defense Magazine speaks to the success of our Cobalt Offensive Security Platform, along with the exceptional expertise of our global community of pentesters and the critical role they play in helping organizations stay ahead of evolving threats,' said Gunter Ollmann, CTO, Cobalt. 'As offensive security continues to evolve, we're proud to be leading the charge—especially in pioneering new approaches to testing AI and LLM applications. Our focus remains on empowering customers with cutting-edge insights and innovation that make a real impact.'
Cyber Defense Magazine honors innovators of all sizes and stages across the global information security space. These awards recognize cybersecurity companies with the most unique and compelling value propositions—whether in their leadership, products, or services. Winners are selected by a panel of certified security professionals, including CISSP, FMDHS, and CEH holders, based on their independent review of each company.
'We scoured the globe looking for cybersecurity innovators that could make a huge difference and potentially help turn the tide against the exponential growth in cybercrime. Cobalt is absolutely worthy of these coveted awards and consideration for deployment in your environment,' said Yan Ross, Global Editor of Cyber Defense Magazine.
The Cobalt Platform stood out among the competition for its strong focus on offensive security and PTaaS. The Cobalt Platform centralizes access to security services from its team of pentesters, making it easier to find and fix vulnerabilities across environments. It enables faster pentest launches, real-time collaboration with testers, and seamless integration with remediation workflows–helping organizations identify critical issues and prevent security incidents.
About Cyber Defense Magazine
Cyber Defense Magazine is the premier source of cyber security news and information for InfoSec professions in business and government. We are managed and published by and for ethical, honest, passionate information security professionals. Our mission is to share cutting-edge knowledge, real-world stories and awards on the best ideas, products, and services in the information technology industry. We deliver electronic magazines every month online for free, and special editions exclusively for the RSA Conferences. CDM is a proud member of the Cyber Defense Media Group. Learn more about us at Cyber Defense Magazine and visit https://www.cyberdefensetv.com and https://www.cyberdefenseradio.com to see and hear some of the most informative interviews of many of these winning company executives. Join a webinar at https://www.cyberdefensewebinars.com and realize that infosec knowledge is power.
About Cobalt
Cobalt is the pioneer in pentesting as a service (PTaaS) and a leader in offensive security services. We are focused on combining talent and technology with speed, scalability, and expertise. Thousands of customers and hundreds of partners rely on the Cobalt Offensive Security Platform, along with 450+ trusted security experts, to find and fix vulnerabilities across their environments. By enabling faster pentest launches, real-time collaboration with pentesters, and seamless integration with remediation workflows, we help organizations identify critical issues and accelerate risk mitigation so they can operate fearlessly and innovate securely.
Cobalt maintains an outstanding NPS of 9.12, reflecting its dedication to customer satisfaction. Read our reviews on G2 to see why customers love us. More at https://www.cobalt.io/. Follow Cobalt on LinkedIn and X.
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LONDON, Ontario, July 22, 2025 --( BUSINESS WIRE )-- Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (" Fortune " or the " Company ") ( ) is pleased to report additional process optimization test work validation for the NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper critical minerals project in Canada (" NICO Project "). The test work was completed at SGS Canada Inc. (" SGS ") in Lakefield, Ontario and proved additional enhancements to the cobalt, gold and copper circuits and recoveries for the planned Alberta Hydrometallurgical Facility, expanding on the improvements already announced for the mill, concentrator and bismuth circuits (see January 8 and May 9, 2025, news releases). The Process Design Criteria have been compiled and delivered to Worley Canada Services Ltd. (" Worley ") for engineering evaluation and incorporation into the Company's updated Feasibility Study in progress. 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Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure ("TCLP") and Acid Base Accounting ("ABA") abatement tests were carried out on the gold leach discharge residues generated from the autoclave and the cleaner scavenger tails, both individually, and when they were combined. Tests confirm they are not leachate toxic and can be deposited in a government approved Class 2 landfill. Fortune expects to complete its optimization validation test work next month after verifying the cobalt PLS manganese removal, Solvent-Extraction ("S-X") purification step, and evaporation and crystallization conditions for a high purity cobalt sulphate heptahydrate product for the lithium-ion rechargeable battery industry. 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These funds are helping Fortune complete metallurgical improvements, updated Feasibility and Front-End Engineering and Design ("FEED") studies, and secure the remaining permits needed to finance, construct and operate the NICO Project (see news releases dated, May 16, 2024, and December 5, 2023). China has effectively cornered the supply for many critical minerals through a decades-long policy of proactive strategic investment in mines and mid- and down-stream processing, financed with low-cost loans from its sovereign banks. Western democratic governments have now recognized the risks associated with critical mineral supply disruptions from this dominance and are investing in domestic production and collaboration among countries with fair trade practices. At the recent G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, world leaders agreed on strategies to strengthen critical minerals supply. " Non-market policies and practices in the critical minerals sector threaten our ability to acquire many critical minerals ", the draft statement said. " Recognizing this threat to our economies, as well as various other risks to the resilience of our critical minerals supply chains, we will work together and with partners beyond the G7 to swiftly protect our economic and national security." Following the summit, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney also commented, "We will create a critical minerals production alliance, a G7-led strategic initiative to stockpile and develop critical minerals needed for defence and technology". The G7 agreed to work together to anticipate critical minerals shortages, coordinate responses to deliberate market disruption, and diversify mining, processing, manufacturing, and recycling. Further to this commitment to shore up critical mineral supplies, Carney said Canada can in part meet its potential annual $150 billion NATO spending obligation with investment in extracting, processing and exporting Canada's critical minerals to allies that will count towards the 5% of GDP target. About Fortune's Metals The Minerals Reserves for the NICO Project contain four payable metals, including cobalt, gold, bismuth and copper. The Alberta Hydrometallurgical Facility will be a mid-stream process plant to produce value-added products with supply chain transparency and custody control of the contained metals. Fortune's cobalt production is targeting the rapidly expanding lithium-ion rechargeable battery industry needed to power electric vehicles, portable electronics and stationary storage cells. Cobalt is also used in aerospace superalloys, permanent magnets, cutting tools, cemented carbides, catalysts and pigments. The annual cobalt market is ~245,000 metric tonnes and is anticipated to grow to ~350,000 metric tonnes by 2030. The Democratic Republic of the Congo produces ~78% of global cobalt mine production, more than 60% of which is controlled by Chinese companies, which also control ~83% of refinery production and ~93% of the production of cobalt chemicals. Bismuth's unique physical and chemical properties are difficult to substitute with other metals, and the NICO Project is the largest known deposit in the world with 12% of global reserves. Bismuth is used in automotive glass and steel coatings, paints and pigments, and brake pads. It is also used to make low melting temperature and dimensionally stable alloys and compounds, fire suppressant systems, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Bismuth consumption is increasing as an environmentally safe and non-toxic replacement for lead in brass, solder, free machining steel and aluminum, galvanizing alloys, glass, ceramic glazes, and ammunition. Bismuth-tin alloy is used to make environmentally safe plugs to properly seal decommissioned oil and gas wells. Bismuth is also used in high performance semiconductors, solders for artificial intelligence data centers, and supercomputers. Manganese-bismuth magnets are resistant to demagnetization from heat. In the nuclear industry, bismuth is used for radiation shielding, coolants in some reactor designs, and it is a collector for plutonium in fuel re-processing and enrichment. China controls ~80% of current bismuth mine production and ~90% of refinery supply in an annual market of ~23,000 metric tonnes growing at ~7.5% CAGR. About the NICO Project Fortune has expended approximately C$145 million to advance the NICO Project from an in-house mineral discovery to a near construction-ready development asset with environmental assessment approval and the major mine permits already secured in the NWT. NICO and the Company's nearby Sue-Dianne copper deposit are IOCG-type mineral deposits with multiple payable metals, reducing the Company's vulnerability to price volatility or market manipulation. The Open Pit and Underground Mineral Reserves for the NICO deposit contain 33.1 million metric tonnes of ore containing 1.1 million ounces of gold, 82.3 million pounds of cobalt, 102.1 million pounds of bismuth, and 27.2 million pounds of copper. Development of the NICO Project would provide vertically integrated domestic production of three critical minerals to help diversify the current sources of supply from foreign entities of concern with a highly liquid and countercyclical gold co-product. The NICO Project will have average annual production during the first 14 years of the 20-year mine life of 1,800 metric tonnes of cobalt contained in 8,780 tonnes of cobalt sulphate, 47,000 troy ounces of gold in doré bars, 1,700 metric tonnes of bismuth in high purity ingots, and 300 tonnes of copper in a cement product. For more detailed information about the NICO Mineral Reserves and certain technical information in this news release, please refer to the Technical Report on the NICO Project, entitled "Technical Report on the Feasibility Study for the NICO-Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project, Northwest Territories, Canada", dated April 2, 2014 and prepared by Micon International Limited which has been filed on SEDAR and is available under the Company's profile at The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained in this news release have been approved by Robin Goad, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fortune and Alex Mezei, Fortune's Chief Metallurgist, who are "Qualified Persons" under National Instrument 43-101. About Fortune Minerals Fortune is a Canadian mining company focused on developing the NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project in the NWT and Alberta. Fortune also owns the Sue-Dianne copper-silver-gold satellite deposit located 25 km north of the NICO deposit and a potential future source of incremental mill feed to extend the life of the NICO concentrator. Follow Fortune Minerals: Click here to subscribe to Fortune's email list. Click here to follow Fortune on LinkedIn. @FortuneMineral on X. This press release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. This forward-looking information includes statements with respect to, among other things, the construction of the proposed mine and concentrator in the NWT and the hydrometallurgical process facility in Alberta, the potential for expansion of the NICO deposit and the Company's plans to develop the NICO Project. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management as well as certain assumptions at the date the information is given including, in respect of the forward-looking information contained in this press release, assumptions regarding: the successful completion of the Company's updated feasibility study, the Company's ability to secure the necessary financing to fund the working capital required for the government funded work, the Company's ability to complete construction of a NICO Project hydrometallurgical process facility; the Company's ability to secure other feed sources for the hydrometallurgical process facility, the Company's ability to arrange the necessary financing to continue operations and develop the NICO Project; the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals for the construction and operation of the NICO Project and the related hydrometallurgical process facility and the timing thereof; growth in the demand for cobalt and bismuth; the time required to construct the NICO Project; and the economic environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of gold, cobalt, bismuth and other by-product metals, anticipated costs and the volumes of metals to be produced at the NICO Project. However, such forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. These factors include the risks that the Company may not be able to complete the metallurgical test work to validate process improvements, update the Feasibility and FEED studies and secure the remaining permits and authorizations needed to construct and operate the mine, concentrator in the NWT and hydrometallurgical facility in Alberta, the Company may not achieve material reductions in the cobalt and gold circuit sizes, the Company may not achieve the anticipated reductions in capital and operating costs, the Company may not be able to economically discharge residues in a Class 2 landfill, the Company may not be able to finance and develop NICO on favourable terms or at all, uncertainties with respect to the receipt or timing of required permits, approvals and agreements for the development of the NICO Project, including the related hydrometallurgical process facility, the construction of the NICO Project may take longer than anticipated, the Company may not be able to secure offtake agreements for the metals to be produced at the NICO Project, the Sue-Dianne Property may not be developed to the point where it can provide mill feed to the NICO Project, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties and in the mining industry in general, the market for products that use cobalt or bismuth may not grow to the extent anticipated, the future supply of cobalt and bismuth may not be as limited as anticipated, the risk of decreases in the market prices of cobalt, bismuth and other metals to be produced by the NICO Project, discrepancies between actual and estimated Mineral Resources or between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries, uncertainties associated with estimating Mineral Resources and Reserves and the risk that even if such Mineral Resources prove accurate the risk that such Mineral Resources may not be converted into Mineral Reserves once economic conditions are applied, the Company's production of cobalt, bismuth and other metals may be less than anticipated and other operational and development risks, market risks and regulatory risks. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information because it is possible that predictions, forecasts, projections and other forms of forward-looking information will not be achieved by the Company. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise it to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law. View source version on Contacts Fortune Minerals Limited Troy Nazarewicz Investor Relations Manager info@ Tel: (519) 858-8188
Forbes
5 days ago
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Reimagining The Cybersecurity Conference Experience
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These massive events make it challenging to truly network, share knowledge deeply, or build relationships beyond exchanging business cards (for younger cybersecurity professionals—a business card is a small wallet-sized piece of cardboard with relevant company and personal information on it that was used to share contact information before smartphones were invented). A Different Approach to Networking and Content RSAC and Black Hat are the two major cybersecurity events, but they're certainly not the only ones. Many vendors host their own customer and partner events, and smaller regional or niche events have sprung up over the years, like B-Sides, or Ira Winkler has a fresh approach, though, that could significantly enhance the value derived from cybersecurity conferences. Drawing inspiration from exclusive industry retreats he attended as Chief Security Architect at Walmart, Winkler launched CruiseCon, an innovative conference held aboard a cruise ship. He strives to provide the sort of relaxed networking opportunities typically reserved for elite executives. "My goal was to democratize events like this, where I bring top level content in an environment that encourages networking, encourages the lifelong connections that these things bring," Winkler explained. CruiseCon creates an informal atmosphere that contrasts sharply with the rushed, transactional nature of typical conferences. Attendees share meals, participate in leisurely activities, and attend thoughtfully curated sessions designed to foster deeper discussions and genuine connections. Winkler emphasizes that the cruise environment encourages attendees—from SOC analysts to Fortune 100 CISOs—to interact authentically, building relationships that extend far beyond the event itself. Why Destination Events Work There are exceptions, though. Over the years, I've seen firsthand how a change of scenery can completely shift the tone and effectiveness of engagement. During RSAC one year, Barracuda took a small group of tech journalists—including myself—offsite to a San Francisco Giants game. It was casual, relaxed, and more memorable than anything that happened on the show floor. When I was at Alert Logic, we did something similar—racing exotic cars with partners and customers offsite at Black Hat, and hosting a private event at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) where we got to tour the stadium and take batting practice in the training area behind the dugout during RSAC. These weren't just social outings—they were intentional settings to foster deeper conversation. They got the right people in the room and created an environment that encouraged genuine connection. Unlike the chaotic receptions where the same attendees bounce from one open bar to the next, these curated experiences had focus. And they worked. What resonated with me when I spoke to Ira about CruiseCon is that it taps into that same philosophy. 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If you can't go up to this person at some point and say, 'Look, I don't want to bother you. But here's at a high level what I do. And if you're so inclined, I'd love 45 minutes of your time when we get back to shore,' there's something wrong.' A New Perspective The cybersecurity industry may benefit significantly by reconsidering how conferences are structured. Rather than accepting traditional formats as a necessary obligation, exploring alternatives like CruiseCon's more personal and immersive experience can deliver deeper value for both attendees and vendors. Registration is open now for CruiseCon West 2025. The cruise itself is October 2-6 , departing from San Pedro.
