The RSA Conference (RSAC) was again held in San Francisco from May 6-9 with the 2024 theme being “The Art of the Possible”.
The show opened with an entertaining celebrity presentation by Matthew Broderick. How was his early story film? War games In 1983 it caught the attention of President Ronald Reagan and even led to discussions with the Joint Chiefs of Staff—and new policies on the nation's telecommunications and computer security.
He was followed by Hugh Thomson, Executive Chairman of the RSAC and Chair of the RSA Conference Program Committee. He highlighted the conference program and focused on “the power of community,” stressing that when we work together we can do more as an industry than we ever imagined.
Some other sessions I really enjoyed included:
- “The Time Is Now: Redefining Security in the Age of AI” with Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Security and Collaboration, Cisco
Some of Patel's comments include: “Doing a little more with less leads to a state of abundance that becomes reality.”
and also:
“The potential for us to enhance human potential [grow exponentially] in scale and capacity.”
What is difficult to do? Three new developments will help: AI, kernel-level visualization and hardware acceleration. Patel argues that AI should be used natively in your infrastructure and not as a “bolt-on” to counter attackers in the future.
- Secretary of State Antony Blanken delivers the keynote speech at the RSA Conference 2024.
- Securing AI: What We've Learned and What Comes Next. – Vasu Jackal, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Security Business: “We live in the most complex threat landscape in history”
There were many other great RSAC keynote sessions that you can watch on the RSAC channel on YouTube.
More coverage and RSA preferences
The power of stories and media coverage came across strongly in many of the RSA sessions this week. Here are some notable examples, including new product announcements, new features for existing products and more:
SC Media: RSAC 2024: Attendees Focus on AI, Mobile, and Threat Telemetry
“With more than 40,000 official attendees, and an estimated 40,000 people who visit the RSAC in San Francisco but do not attend the event, the RSAC draws a large and inquisitive crowd to its AI remains a hot topic of conversation as most vendors have their own opinions on it and how it applies to their solution stack, while CISOs and practitioners continue to gain a better understanding of it. How they can use AI to achieve their goals.”
CSO Magazine: The most exciting products to watch at RSAC 2024
And in the middle of the RSA conference, this (badly publicized) story broke about Apple's new ad:
CNBC: Apple apologizes for iPad Pro ad showing hydraulic press destroying guitar, piano
Final thoughts
Dan Luhrmann
On a personal level, I found the 2024 RSA Conference to be more impactful and interesting than I expected. While I was at Public Sector Day on Monday, a group of my Presidio colleagues and I had a great conversation with Rohit Ghai, CEO of RSA (see photo left). These types of industry interactions and networking opportunities are truly remarkable.
There are also many opportunities to meet with top security leaders, including CISOs and CIOs from around the country, such as Michael Maxtman, interim CIO and chief technology officer for the City and County of San Francisco, who is also based in San Francisco. GT A list of the top 25 doers, dreamers and drivers for 2024.
Dan Luhrmann
The conventional wisdom was that RSAC was in decline and might even need to reinvent itself — and possibly leave San Francisco in the future. Major cyber companies such as Palo Alto Networks and several others were not on the show floor. Nevertheless, the attendance and the session content were top notch and even head turning in my opinion.
I was able to meet with the global media on a variety of cybersecurity topics, and everyone wanted to discuss creative AI and the impact of AI on cybersecurity in the cyber attack and defense sectors.
I urge readers to take time to watch the RSAC 2024 keynote at the YouTube links provided. As you do, you'll see how the growing influence of AI and GenAI is driving global cyber impacts in every area of life.