RSA® Conference Ignites Security Industry Discussion and Further Education Initiatives in 2016

RSA® Conference, the world’s leading information security conferences and expositions, once again sets the stage for the world to talk security at San Francisco’s Moscone Center Feb. 29-March 4, 2016. This annual event unites top information security professional and business leaders to discuss emerging cybersecurity trends and formulate best strategies for tackling threats.

The conference is one of the largest of its kind with tens of thousands of security professionals as well as hundreds of media, analysts and exhibitors attending every year. To mark the 25th Anniversary of the event, the conference is challenging and inspiring participants to take it a step further and “Connect to Protect.” RSA Conference is the launch pad for this connection. It is where participants forge personal relationships, challenge notions and set the stage for the coming year.

Since the first RSA Conference in 1991, the security industry has exploded. Additionally, the types of attacks organizations must protect themselves against are rapidly evolving. As a result, RSA Conference works to keep pace with industry changes and proactively educate attendees to protect their enterprises and those involved. Each year, world-class speakers and keynotes drive to the heart of what information security professionals care about. Topics covered serve a wide range of industries such as information technology, government, financial services, manufacturing, software, healthcare, education, retail, and mobile technology and apps among others.

Educational highlights for RSA Conference 2016 include:

• CyberSmart: Parents Education Workshop – On Sunday, Feb. 28, RSA Conference expands the conversation on the education gap in the cybersecurity industry by reaching a new audience – San Francisco area parents. The first-ever CyberSmart: Parents Education Workshop is a half-day interactive event where attendees hear from cybersecurity industry experts about how to enable kids to grow and learn with technology safely. A morning and afternoon workshop session is offered followed by a Resource Expo. The expo provides an opportunity for attendees to interact with organizations who provide services and resources for cybersafety education.

• Security Scholars Program – The world’s largest security event connects students with industry professionals with the Security Scholars Program. This new initiative, sponsored by RSA, was created in an effort to connect the brightest up-and-coming cybersecurity students to leading experts, peers and conference attendees. RSA Confereance has partnered with leading private and public universities across the country to select three of their top scholars to represent each university at the conference. Scholars chosen cover a variety of majors and industries, emphasizing the need of security experts in a wide range of fields. Attending students begin their conference experience with a team-building activity and welcome reception on the Expo floor, where they meet and mingle with top corporate security companies in attendance. Throughout the course of the week, there are various opportunities for the students to connect with industry luminaries, discuss industry trends and participate in conference activities.

• Innovation Sandbox Contest and The Sandbox – On Feb. 29, the popular Innovation Sandbox Contest brings together participants to pitch their security solutions in front of a live audience. Five industry veterans judge the competition and name one finalist the “RSA Conference 2016’s Most Innovative Company.” After the winner is announced, the Innovation Sandbox Contest area transforms into The Sandbox – an experiential space designed to immerse attendees in multiple dynamic, learning and networking opportunities. RSA Conference 2016 offers “sandboxes” to learn how to encrypt mobile device emails, surf anonymously online, study the impact of Internet of Things (IoT) vulnerabilities, test network security at SANS NetWars, and experiment on what happens to healthcare, finance or energy sectors when our critical infrastructure (ICS) is tested.

• Learning Labs plus Crowdsourced and Birds of a Feather Sessions. – In addition to the regular lineup of sessions on the industry’s hottest topics, RSA Conference brings back its popular Learning Labs and Crowdsourced sessions and introduces Birds of a Feather. Learning Labs provides a highly interactive, facilitated learning experience for those in attendance. All content is hand on and small group oriented, and this year 12 Labs are offered across a variety of topics. In the Crowdsourced Session, the top offerings selected by the security community take the stage at RSA Conference, with an expanded track for 2016. And new for this year, attendees can start the day off at a Birds of a Feather early gathering. Attendees can bring breakfast over to the discussion room, where topics are designated based on interest to encourage interaction with like-minded individuals. This is, by design, a loosely structured event to give participants an opportunity to network and set the agenda for discussions of interest while allowing topics to develop organically.

• RSAC TV – Now in its second year, RSAC TV is the conference’s very own onsite recording studio. Programming features the best content distilled into concise and engaging presentations. RSAC TV sessions are a set of select 15-minute video presentations delivered in front of a live audience. These sessions are published online following the event.

This marks a few of the exciting, innovative programs RSA Conference has planned for 2016. For more information about the conference or to register, please visit www.rsaconference.com.