Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/7359
17 messagingnews.com 17 messagingnews.com 17 messagingnews.com O ne of my favorite conferences of the year is RSA. I always meet new people, and learn about new companies or products. Clearly I am not alone, as crowds of security professionals make their way to San Francisco for the five-day event each year. Despite the challenging economic times we continue to face, this year promises to be no different. Slated to take place March 1-5, RSA Conference 2010 is expected to attract attendees from major industry verticals such as banking, finance, govern- ment, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, computer software development and manufacturing. Has the economy hurt attendance? Not according to Sandra Toms LaPedis, area vice president and general manager for RSA Conference. "The cost of a public breach is much higher than the costs of attending the RSA Conference," points out Toms LaPedis. "The benefits of learning from skilled speakers, discovering innovative companies and sharing best practices with other organizations facing the same challenges is invaluable." Focus on Innovation One of the offerings on the first day of the show is the return of the half-day program Innovation Sandbox, intro- duced last year. Ten companies will compete for the Most Innovative Company award at the show. Each will have a set period of time where they need to explain to a panel of judges who they are, what their product is and why they think it is going to be successful. In addition, there will again be idea exchange whisper suites and interactive whiteboard sessions. New to the Innovation Sandbox lineup is a Successful Entrepreneurship panel. "This is a new content piece," ex- plains Toms LaPedis. "The panelists are people who have done this before, and will share what they look for, how they measure success, and how they talk about innovation." Messaging a Hot Topic Our focus area, messaging, is a key topic at the show and appears in a number of the breakout sessions. Data leakage prevention, eDiscovery, compliance, malware, Web threats, and more are included within the 18 tracks offered. In fact, one track, Network & Mobile Security, was renamed this year to recognize more fully the prevalence and importance of mobile devices. "If I had to identify one of the top five topics for the RSA conference, I would say number one is cloud," says Toms LaPedis. "Everyone is talking about the cloud." Toms LaPedis notes that the second is the use of social media within organizations and how to do that securely. "There's a lot of concern from multiple perspectives when you have a lot of employees on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. The unintended affect of social media is you can become more transparent, so issues surrounding that are definitely a top concern and a lot of focus." She also notes that email is always a top topic because of continued phish- ing, spoofing and fraud. If You Miss It Anyone, anywhere can take advantage of portions of the show via the Web. All the keynotes are recorded and made available within a few hours of them taking place. Not only are individual speakers posted, like Arthur Coviello, Jr., discussing Safety in the Cloud, Security Services Through the Cloud and Better Protection for All and Scott Charney of Microsoft, talking about Creating A Safer, More Trusted Internet, but also panels. "The Cryptographer's Panel is one of the perennial favorites of the RSA conference, people always are interested and waiting to hear what these guys have to say about what is coming up or what to expect," says Toms LaPedis. Another panel that has Toms LaPedis' attention is Dealing with Sophisticated Threats in Cyberspace without Creating Big Brother. "I am particularly excited about this panel. We have some of the top people that I can imagine talking about this issue." Speakers include Marc Rotenberg executive direc- tor, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC); Michael Chertoff former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security; and Richard Clarke chairman, Good Harbor Consulting. Toms LaPedis expects the panel may be contentious at times because "we have all these competing interests coming to- gether as they discuss how to defend against threats with- out impinging on civil liberties, including privacy rights." In addition, there are many other invited guests that people can see via the Web. If you find you cannot make the con- ference this year, be sure to schedule some time to attend the portions available online. It's a great resource. SJ/TMP RSA CONFERENCE 2010 BY: STEPHANIE JORDAN FOR YOUR REFERENCE RSA Conference www.rsaconference.com "The unintended affect of social media is you can become more transparent, so issues surrounding that are definitely a top concern and a lot of focus." Sandra Toms LaPedis, RSA Conference