April 27, 2018

Is the #RSA security bubble bursting?

Is the #RSA security bubble bursting?

Reflecting on what was a very long and industrious week in San Francisco, it’s important to try and decode, decipher, and maximize the investment in such an event.

With record numbers of people attending and over 1,700 security companies present, of which most customers apparently buy from over 50 on average, the security web is only becoming more prevalent and significant to us all.

And while the #RSAC 2018 event is predominantly for enterprise security vendors, partners and customers, it is very clear that IoT security is becoming increasingly important. While there are limited IoT security vendors on the show floor, there were many IoT related sessions at the conference. Though I couldn’t attend the planned session, I understand from my colleagues that Blockchain was the most controversial topic at the conference.

From a personal point my schedule was extremely busy, starting with the AGC Partners technology conference on the Monday, continuing to three days at RSA as ecosystem vendors and partners wanted to know how they could partner with Device Authority, to solve device trust, data trust and scale challenges faced on future IoT projects and deployments.

The irony, or some may call it great planning, was that we launched our Enterprise IoT security blueprint the same week. It resonated with several partners in the ecosystem as they can clearly understand where their organisation, products and technologies play in the developing IoT security model. In addition to knowing exactly where Device Authority’s IoT security platform KeyScaler can add value to their enterprise security products and solutions to make them “IoT Ready”. It was satisfying to see a leading research analyst already armed with a hard copy of our Enterprise IoT security blueprint before starting our briefing – and asked us to tell him all about it.

With over 30 meetings throughout the week (and only one of them over a drink), I have to give credit to Thales eSecurity for a great cocktail party, and ForeScout Technologies for the best party with Fergie performing.

Always great to see some old colleagues and partners, but more importantly to see a new landscape and new relationships forming. With the massive consolidation of larger companies, the exciting growth of new companies solving new security problems, and the rise of IoT security, the future looks bright. We’ll see next year whether attendees and exhibitors will have enough energy for another RSAC fest that goes above 30,000 visitors with an ever-increasing footprint. The #RSA2018 app is great for staying organized, otherwise valuable time is lost.

Is the #RSA security bubble bursting? Most definitely NOT.

WRITTEN BY
Darron Antill