Europe's largest IT security trade fair, from 5–7 October 2027 in Nuremberg, following the 2026 edition at the Nuremberg exhibition centre: a vendor floor, open forums, the Congress@it-sa programme, and a record 993 exhibitors in 2025.
it-sa Expo&Congress is an annual IT security trade fair run by NürnbergMesse in Nuremberg, Germany, since 2009. The organiser calls it Europe's largest trade fair for IT security and says it covers hardware, software, training and consulting, and Security as a Service, with themes such as cloud and mobile security, data and network security, critical infrastructure protection and industrial security. The 2027 edition runs from 5–7 October 2027; the 2026 edition ran from 27 to 29 October. Around the exhibition sit the open it-sa insights forums, the Congress@it-sa programme and the ATHENE Startup Award UP@it-sa for young security companies.
5–7 October 2027. Exhibition Centre Nuremberg (2026 venue). The venue for 2027 had not been confirmed as of 2026-11-01; the city is Nuremberg, Germany. The 2026 edition was held at Messezentrum 1, 90471 Nuremberg, with exhibition opening times of Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 October 2026 from 09:00 to 18:00, and Thursday 29 October 2026 from 09:00 to 17:00. Congress@it-sa 2026 ran from Monday 26 to Thursday 29 October 2026 in NCC Ost, away from the exhibition halls. The 2027 opening times had not been published.
NürnbergMesse GmbH, the operator of the Nuremberg exhibition centre. The visitor service line is +49 911 8606 9696 and the general contact is it-sa@nuernbergmesse.de, as shown on the official site. Content partners include associations and institutions listed on the partners page, among them eco, Bitkom, TeleTrusT, ECSO (the European Cyber Security Organisation) and ATHENE.
28,267 trade visitors from 64 countries attended the 2025 edition (7 to 9 October 2025), according to the organiser, which also reports 993 exhibitors in five halls, a new exhibitor record, and about 9 percent more visitors than in 2024. No 2026 or 2027 attendance figure had been found as of 2026-11-01. The organiser describes the audience as decision-makers, experts and IT security officers from industry, services and public administration. Admission requires no proof of industry affiliation, but the fair is for trade visitors only and sells nothing to end consumers. The organiser also reports that 98 percent of 2025 visitors were satisfied overall (organiser survey, method not published).
The 2027 speaker roster had not been published as of 2026-11-01. For 2026, the official site named one speaker: Prof. Dr Marco Gercke, who gave the Special Keynote on a cyber incident simulation on the last day of the fair. The more than 400 forum contributions and the Congress@it-sa blocks are listed in the programme overview on the official site, not as a roster of named speakers in the sources read for this fiche.
What is new for 2027 had not been published as of 2026-11-01. In 2026, the organiser marked the eco Internet Security Days as part of the fair for the first time: the eco association's cybersecurity conference takes place within it-sa. Ticket holders now also receive a public transport KombiTicket valid in the Nuremberg, Fürth, Stein, Oberasbach and Zirndorf fare zones (zones 100/200) on the day of the visit. A Special Keynote on cyber incident simulation closes the programme, and the ATHENE Startup Award UP26@it-sa returns with a start-up area. The theme list on the site adds digital sovereignty, AI and IT regulation to the classic topics.
The 2027 programme had not been published as of 2026-11-01. The 2026 programme ran four layers in parallel.
Open forum talks and discussion panels (the it-sa insights series), Congress@it-sa thematic blocks and workshops, a Special Keynote, a Digital Preview before the fair, and the hybrid it-sa@home Expo Channel for online attendance. Expert lectures are available live on site and afterward on demand at it-sa 365. In 2025 the organiser counted more than 400 forum presentations across six open forums and more than 70 sessions and workshops at Congress@it-sa.
Side events for 2027 had not been published as of 2026-11-01. The 2026 edition included:
Evening events and partner receptions are not described in the sources read.
Ticket prices for 2027 had not been published as of 2026-11-01. The prices below are those of the 2026 edition and include statutory VAT. 1-day ticket: 72 EUR. Permanent ticket (all three days): 120 EUR. Parking ticket: 14 EUR. Tickets are personalised e-tickets, not transferable, paid by Mastercard, Visa or PayPal. The ticket includes the public transport KombiTicket for the day. A voucher code on the visitor page gives free three-day access for those who register in the ticket shop, and vouchers are redeemed online only. Congress@it-sa blocks are described as mostly free, so no separate Congress price list is published.
Not publicly disclosed. No call for papers or speaker application page was found for the forums or Congress@it-sa. The Congress programme is built with associations, industry groups and exhibitors, so the practical route is through exhibitor status or an association partner. Questions can go to it-sa@nuernbergmesse.de.
Stand prices for 2027 had not been published as of 2026-11-01; the figures below are 2026 prices. Exhibitors book online as direct exhibitors, co-exhibitors or Startups@it-sa participants. Stand space in the exhibition halls starts at 409 EUR per started square metre up to 30 m², with additional square metres priced by stand type: 256 EUR in-line, 284 EUR corner, 322 EUR peninsula, 349 EUR island. Obligatory extras include a marketing services fee of 410 EUR for direct exhibitors, an AUMA contribution of 0.60 EUR per m² and a waste disposal charge of 6.40 EUR per m². The co-exhibitor fee is 1,540 EUR per co-exhibitor. Exhibitor terms, floor plans and a price calculator sit on the exhibit pages. Sponsor packages are not listed with prices.
The 2027 sponsor roster had not been published as of 2026-11-01. For 2026, the partners and sponsors page showed its patronage, honorary sponsors, premium partner, partners and exclusive event partner mainly as logos without text names, so a full roster is not documented here. Named in text: ECSO European Cyber Security Organisation as European Sovereignty Partner. Logos on the page include eco, Bitkom, TeleTrusT, BITMi, VOICE, Bayern Innovativ, bayme, BVMW, VdTÜV, Security Network Munich, CISO Alliance, ATHENE and Encryption Europe. Check the official page for the current roster.
Not publicly disclosed as a breakdown. The organiser says exhibitors address the whole IT security market, including physical IT security, from "renowned IT security providers, distributors and start-ups". Visitors come from industry, services and public administration, and the programme leans on German-speaking associations and the DACH market, with ATHENE's start-up award restricted to the DACH region.
Apply through the online accreditation form on the press area of the official site. Accreditation is for journalistic reporting only. Proof can be a valid press ID, a masthead naming the applicant, a byline article no older than six months, or an original commission from a publication with a full in-house editorial office relating to the current fair. Bloggers, YouTubers and Instagrammers must show a channel with a regular, relevant publishing record. Sales managers, PR consultants, webmasters and Germans resident in Germany presenting a foreign press card are not accredited, and there is no automatic right to accreditation. The press area also offers a distribution list, press releases and media downloads. Contact: it-sa@nuernbergmesse.de.
None found in the sourced material beyond organiser reports. The official site publishes its own closing report for 2025 and press releases. Trade titles appear as logos on the partners page (for example Infosecurity Magazine, Security Insider, it-daily.net, IT WELT and heise's secIT), which means their coverage may be promotional or placed. No independent press coverage was reviewed for this fiche.
Treat most of it as organiser-originated. The headline figures (28,267 visitors, 993 exhibitors, 64 countries) come from the organiser's own review page and visitor survey. Trade publications appear on the partners page as logos, but the page text does not say which logos are media partners, so coverage by those titles cannot be sorted into placed or independent (unverifiable information). No auditor or independent measurement body is named for the visitor count.
Researchers who want original vulnerability disclosure: the programme is made of product-neutral forum talks and association blocks, and Black Hat Europe suits that goal better. Buyers outside the German-speaking market with no German-language needs: the audience and many forum contributions sit in DACH (the official pages are available in English and German). Consumers: no sales to end consumers are possible.
It is the autumn IT security fair in Germany and, by exhibitor count, the organiser's claimed largest in Europe. In 2026 it ran a few weeks before Black Hat Europe (7 to 10 December 2026, London) and follows the eco Internet Security Days, now co-located within the fair. The organiser's year-round it-sa 365 platform carries content between editions.
Not documented in the sourced material. The official pages describe a single annual edition in Nuremberg since 2009 and a year-round digital platform, it-sa 365. No international editions are listed.
The official site is in German and English. Forum and Congress sessions are listed on the site without a language tag in the sources read, so which sessions are in English is not stated.
Yes. The organiser describes the 2026 edition as onsite and online. The hybrid it-sa@home Expo Channel streams the fair live and interactively, and expert lectures are available on demand on the it-sa 365 platform after the event. A Digital Preview opens before the show. Whether on-demand access needs a ticket is not stated.
Not publicly disclosed. The ticket shop page states only that tickets are personalised and non-transferable and that an invoice arrives with the e-ticket. The general terms and conditions page linked from the site was not found to state ticket refunds in the sections read.
Yes, in part. The organiser states that facilities on the entire exhibition grounds are freely accessible. A normal wheelchair can be borrowed from the BRK (German Red Cross) free of charge on presentation of ID, and an electric wheelchair costs 100 EUR for the first day and 50 EUR for each additional day, requested 14 days before the visit (messe@kvnuernberg-stadt.brk.de). BRK first-aid stations are staffed at the centre. The site also links a declaration on accessibility.
The 2026 edition was held at NürnbergMesse, Messezentrum 1, 90471 Nuremberg; the 2027 venue had not been confirmed as of 2026-11-01. By train, take the U1 underground (direction Langwasser Süd) from Nuremberg main station: the journey is about eight minutes. From the airport, take the U2 and change to the U1 at the main station, about 25 minutes in total, or take a taxi, which also takes about 25 minutes. By car, the centre is signposted from the A3, A6, A9 and A73 motorways (navigation address Karl-Schönleben-Strasse or "Sonderziel Messe"). Your ticket includes the VGN public transport KombiTicket for the day of the visit.
Because it puts the whole IT security supplier field in one place for three days: 993 exhibitors in five halls in 2025, a record, with open forums that cost nothing beyond the entry ticket and a Congress that is mostly free. A buyer with a project or a renewal can compare suppliers in person, at 72 EUR for a day or 120 EUR for three. That price and that density, not original research, are the reason to go.
Because the 28,267 visitors, the 993 exhibitors and the 98 percent satisfaction rate are all the organiser's own figures for 2025, with no independent audit named, and no 2026 or 2027 count had been found as of 2026-11-01. The previous version of this fiche called Congress@it-sa a paid programme, while the organiser now describes it as mostly free. Confirm ticket and Congress terms on the official ticket page before you plan a visit.
Official site: https://www.itsa365.de/en/it-sa-expo-congress. Tickets and prices: https://www.itsa365.de/en/it-sa-expo-congress/visit/tickets-and-prices. Visitor information: https://www.itsa365.de/en/it-sa-expo-congress/visit/visitor-information. Press area: https://www.itsa365.de/en/it-sa-expo-congress/press. Exhibitor information: https://www.itsa365.de/en/it-sa-expo-congress/exhibit/exhibitor-information. The database also holds http://www.it-sa.de/en as a secondary address. Contact: it-sa@nuernbergmesse.de.