Kicking off RSA Conference 2017 With DevOps and Cloud Security

Last year was a record year when it came to attendance for the RSA Conference. More than 40,000 attendees arrived at the Moscone Center to learn about and discuss the latest in cybersecurity trends ranging from cybersecurity big data analytics, application security, to forensics and incident response and everything in-between.

The RSA Conference has grown so large, and so much going on throughout the week, that it has become a challenge to just find the events one wants to see while at the show. That’s why it’s important to go with a plan. Here’s my plan for the RSA Conference Monday kickoff, the first and perhaps busiest day of the week. 

It’s true that the trade floor and official keynotes don’t fully start until Tuesday, Monday is a big day for the areas I care about, as I’m sure do many of our readers: cloud security, DevOps, and security innovation. On Monday, there is the Cloud Security Alliance Summit, where experts and cloud providers will discuss “global governance, the latest trends in technology, the threat landscape, security innovations, best practices and global governance in order to help organizations address the new frontiers in cloud security.” This year, the summit will focus on the the Software-Defined Perimeter, and identity with the What is the Next Dimension of Security in the Age of Access? Keynote. There is also a panel Cloud & IoT: Risks, Threats and Opportunities that looks interesting to me. It will consist of Chris Carlson, Chris Eng, Mike Goldgof, Jeff Hudson, Dug Song, and Lynn Terwoerds.

The Gen. Keith Alexander keynote, A Road Map to Freedom: The Strategy of Effective Cyber Security, also looks like a must see.

During much of the same time, and right next door to Cloud Security Alliance Summit, is the third annual DevOps Connect: DevSecOps Edition. This event is a full day of focusing on DevOps security with DevOps and Security practitioners who meet to exchange views about actual enterprise experiences on implementing DevOps practices. Keynotes here include Breaking Bad Equilibrium with John Willis; Building Security In: A Tale of Two Stories with Laksh Raghavan; and The Intersection of Release Engineering and Rugged DevOps with J. Paul Reed. Then there’s the case study on Implementing DevOps in a Regulated Environment: The Aetna Experience with Duane Schleen. And finally, the presentation Requirements Gathering for a Successful Rugged DevOps Implementation with Hasan Yasar looks good, too.

As if that wasn’t enough for one day, also nearby DevOps Connect and the Cloud Security Alliance Summit is the Innovation Sandbox. The Innovation Sandbox is where the Top 10 Finalists battle to win the title of the most innovative startup of the RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest. The judging panel consists of three venture capitalists who will also discuss emerging trends and major issues in cybersecurity and where these VCs see current investment opportunities and how the security market is changing. 

The Innovation Sandbox is interesting every year that RSA holds the event (which is most years). The contest consists of three-minute pitches from the contestants, where the judges discuss who will be the winner as RSA attendees get to mingle with top 10 finalists. The judges will discuss the pitches with the contestants and share their views of the selected companies as well as provide guidance on how the security vendors should proceed ahead with their business.

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Fight Back against Advanced Persistent Threats with Bitdefender Hypervisor Introspection, Showcased at RSA 2017. Bitdefender’s and Citrix’s top engineers and security experts will join the event, making themselves available - booth North Expo #N3841 for Bitdefender and booth North Expo #N3534 for Citrix - and showcasing cutting-edge enterprise technologies.