Several ISACA experts attended the RSA 2020 Conference last week in San Francisco, California, and took advantage of the wealth of onsite sessions and opportunities to meet with others in the tech community. A few shared some reflections from the conference with ISACA Now—both around industry trends and takeaways, and about the first-timer’s overall conference experience.
Frank Downs, Senior Director, Cybersecurity Advisory and Assessment Solutions
One of the many trends I observed during the 2020 RSA Conference reinforces recent reporting from Forrester, which indicates that the many cybersecurity budgets are now dedicating more money to services than products. While there are several working theories as to why services are receiving more attention, some stood out in discussion more than others – such as liability. Specifically, some organizations are starting to look toward services to provide a capability, such as email, chat, or general data storage, but have found additional benefit in shifting liability to the provider of the service. For example, through using a cloud provider for email hosting, the security managers felt more secure, legally, than if they attempted to host it themselves. This shared sentiment seems to make sense and illustrate a tangible side benefit of switching from a product, to a service, in certain instances.
While solutions relating to cloud, data protection and monitoring were present at RSA, the human element in the technology was obvious. There was an emphasis on the “human” as a consumer of the technology, not just as a cog in the machine.
This made two things clear to me. First, we need to predict the impacts of new technologies and derive what we can do to protect humans. Second, we need to build software and tech that keeps people front and center and also keeps them safe. This safety has to be interpreted as widely as we can imagine. To do this, we need an interdisciplinary approach of involving humanities professionals alongside engineers, as they can bring the human perspective to play. Seeing the human element clearly displayed at RSA also made me think about how technology has a moral responsibility. Technology also needs to be very transparent, considering the enormous power that is now vested with technology as seen in AI and machine learning. With the innovations in technology coming at a faster pace than the regulations, private enterprises are increasingly going to have to take a central role in regulating what they do and don’t do, regardless of what technology can or may allow them to do. Government and private enterprises must work together to protect human interests.
Pam Nigro | ISACA board director; senior director of information security, GRC practice, Heath Care Service Corporation (HCSC)
First-timers to RSA Conference may feel like a kid at Disneyland in the Moscone Center’s Expo hall, with so much to do and see.
It is ginormous, with all types of vendors and associations demonstrating their products and giving away trinkets and collectables–some of which included rather unusual items, like light sabers and plastic King Arthur type swords, which were highly sought-after. The challenge for many was how to get it all home. Those attending for the first time may also feel overwhelmed by the number of sessions and keynotes that are happening simultaneously. Managing your schedule at RSA can be extremely difficult, as many of the sessions that you may want to see won't open for enrollment until the day of the session. I ultimately had to resort to pen and paper to map out the day’s events, including the sessions I was interested in and had enrolled in, and I’d advise attendees to take a moment to do the same. Also, think of the RSA venue as a college campus. One session may in the South building and your next session may be in the West building and you have about five minutes to get to it. With all the walking involved, having a supportive and comfortable pair of shoes is a must.
