The Ashimmy Blog

RSA is on the way! March 18, 2009

OK I got back early from California (because someone I was meeting had to be hospitalized I am afraid) so have some time to blog.  It has been tough lately, but there are lots of stories to touch on.  First of all we are in full swing for the pre-RSA season.  My calendar is already filling up with appointments while I am out in San Fran.  I will be presenting at the Americas Growth Conference again this year on the Monday before RSA.  The AGC event has become a staple over the years and in these challenging times should be even more interesting this year.  Of course there is the security bloggers meet up with planning in full swing ready to rock (SBN members get an invite). Also the SC Magazine awards dinner and event which I was invited to and will be attending.  Thursday morning I moderate an all star panel on what to do about security in this economy.   All in all, RSA is shaping up as a great time! 

While I am registered as a speaker, an exhibitor and 5 year member, I was surprised that this year to attend just the expo and keynotes, there were no free passes.  In some ways it is good, it may keep some people out who are adult trick-or-treaters or resume pushers.  In other ways if you are in the local area the 75 dollars for an expo pass may stop you from attending.  Well here is where I can help. I have 4 expo passes to RSA to give away.  Leave a comment with why you deserve one and if you can convince me you win one. I wish I had full passes to give out to all of the tracks and all, but those are hard to come by. Hope to see you at the conference.

Couple of other stories:

1. Vyatta adds security to the router. I don’t know about you but this is so Cobia 2007!  Come on guys we did this at StillSecure with Cobia 2 years ago.  Plus reading the press on it, it is hard to see what special sauce if any Vyatta adds over the plain vanilla open source offerings that it is based on.  I guess it was to be expected, but I think they are going to have to do better then this to be successful.

2. Is Sun going to rise at IBM? – Looks like Big Blue might be picking up what is left of Sun.  Great, that gives IBM another database to work with (they already have DB2 and Informix), some open source stuff and another silicon design.  On the other hand, Sun has to do something as I am not sure what the future holds for them as a stand alone.

3. How to evaluate if MSSP is right for you- article in searchsecurity about how to properly evaluate whether MSSP is the right for you.  Pretty elementary stuff, but a start to making the decision.

4. NAC, its not just for compliance anymore. – Tim Greene’s article this week calls out how NAC for compliance is yet another great use of NAC.  Yes NAC can be quite the Swiss army knife of security, but is NAC as a compliance tool enough to drive a new NAC sale or just another use for a tool you already bought?  That is the big question about the NAC market.

Report from SC World Congress

Haven't had a chance to blog about the SC Mag World Congress.  Not any fault of the SC Magazine folks though.  This was the most blog friendly conference I have ever been at.  Ilena Armstrong, Tony Keefe, Gil Toren and the rest of the gang at SC Magazine have really gone out of the way and rolled out a red carpet for members of the SBN.  All SBN members were eligible for free press passes for a full conference admission. In each speaker track there was a cordoned off section of seats for "official bloggers". Free wireless access for bloggers was provided.   Bloggers on request were given access to the keynote and featured speakers at the conference as well.  The bloggers who attended were very appreciative.  Other conferences should take note on embracing bloggers this way.

In spite of all of this pampered treatment, I was only able to twitter from the show.  We had a StillSecure booth in the expo and I was helping out speaking to live people.  Not that there were people lined up at the booth.  You can definitely tell the economy has taken a hard bite out here. I have never seen NYC so empty this close to Christmas.  The show itself had over 1000 people pre-registered, but I bet maybe half or so were here today.  You can tell the economy is bad too by how many are handing out resumes or asking about work. There were just not the usual amount of people with projects or budget.  The attendees were decision makers, but many were not in a position to green light any projects. Also speaking to other vendors  I heard stories of skipping RSA and other drastic reductions in spend.

The line up of speakers and topics were very impressive.  The last session today featured the two congressmen who were on President-elect Obama's cybersecurity panel.  As well as two other members of the panel.  I would think that great lineup on this important a topic would draw a standing room only crowed.  Though the room was fairly full, it was not overcrowded by any means.

This years SC Congress was their first and that may account for some lack of awareness of the show.  Also the cost of coming to and staying in NYC might keep some away.  However, I think this show has a bright future ahead of it.  NYC needs a show like this.  When the economy picks up and with more marketing from the SC Magazine team, SC World Congress will become a must attend show in the future.

In NY at the SC World Congress this week

I am heading up to NYC tomorrow to set up for the SC World Congress at the Javits Center. I will be at the show Tuesday and Wed.  If you are attending the show stop by the StillSecure booth and say hello. Also, I am trying to put something together for drinks Monday night.  If you are in town and would like to join us drop me a line at podcast@stillsecure.com

Hope to see you there.

SBN members are attending SC World Congress as press

This post is for my fellow bloggers in the Security Bloggers Network.  If you are planning on attending or would like to attend the SC Magazine World Congress this December at the Javits Center in NYC, you are eligible for a press pass.  The pass allows you to attend sessions and the exhibits for free, as well as more perks.

If you would like to apply for your press credentials please contact me at podcast@stillsecure.com by Monday. Please include your SBN member blog URL to verify your membership. I am submitting the final list to the SC Mag folks Monday evening.

Also, for the analyst and mainstream media community we will be having a StillSecure cocktail hour.  If you would like an invite please contact me at podcast@stillsecure.com as well.

It should be a great show and I hope to see many SBN members at there.

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• How about a discount for the SC World Congress?

How about a discount for the SC World Congress?

So courtesy of the folks at SC Magazine and the Security Bloggers Network here is a great offer to attend a great security conference.  This offer is for the inaugural SC World Congress this December 9-10, at the Javits Center in NYC. The show has a great schedule and an "A" list of speakers lined up.  Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you feel about it) no vendors will be speaking, only "real experts", so you won't hear from the likes of me or other vendor pukes.

With the economy the way it is, I know many of you are probably finding it difficult to get buget to pay to attend conferences, not to mention budget for travel and expenses. With so many folks in the metro NYC area, SC World Congress is a great chance to get some top notch sessions in. So here is a way to make it a bit more affordable.  If you would like to attend the SC World Congress, here is a quick 35% off!  Just use Blog1(for a one day pass) or Blog2 (for a two day pass) in the special offers section when you register for the show.

There you go, what a deal!  I will be at the show as will StillSecure. If you are attending, come by and say hello!  Hope to see you there.

Into the (data) breach

It is that time of year again.  Just last year I wrote on behalf of my friend Illena Armstrong, to ask you to take a few minutes to help Illena and SC Magazine compile their annual survey on Data Breach.  The results are tabulated and made available to everyone.  So not only do you help yourself, you help your colleagues too!

Well this years survey is here.  You can click here and go take the survey. The SC Mag folks will publish the data in January (one month after their initial SC World Congress in NY).  So give Illena and crew a hand.  Take a moment to take the survey and be sure to see the results in a few months.  Thanks!

SC Magazine article on clarification of PCI requirements

Martin and a bunch of others have written about the recent clarifications around section 6.6 and 11.3 of the PCI DSS. Jim Carr over at SC Magazine ran an article on it today that he interviewed me for. While I am not the PCI expert Martin is, I was happy to contribute my 2 cents (ain't I always).

Anyway, sounds to me like these new clarifications are going to wind up with a lot of web application firewalls being sold.  Here at StillSecure we are thinking about some ways to take those to the next level as well. Hopefully we can announce something soon on this.  Overall, just another indication that right or wrong, compliance is driving a lot of the spending in security today.

Safe Access wins SC Magazine Award Reader Trust Award, again!

One of my favorite activities of RSA week is getting dressed in a tuxedo and attending the SC Magazine award show.  As I have written before, I like the SC Magazine awards because it is one set of awards that I don't think you can buy. It is actually based on user votes.  This year for the 3rd time in 3 years our Safe Access NAC product was a finalist in the Best Endpoint Security Solution category.  We won in 2006.  This year we came back and won again! 

This year, with everyone throwing dirt on NAC it was especially sweet to win this award against the many other competitors. It is a great testament to all of the hard work that many people at StillSecure have put in to making Safe Access the best product in the NAC market.  I also want to thank the many people that voted for Safe Access as well. 

NAC is alive and well at StillSecure.  Thanks to Ilena Armstrong and the rest of the SC Mag crew for putting on another great awards show this year.

ArcSight IPO goes against the tide

Have data breaches affected your information security plans? Here is your chance to have a say

My friend Ilena Armstrong, Editor-in-Chief over at SC Magazine is conducting a survey on on how news of breaches, thefts and exposures are affecting organizations info sec plans.  Below is a note from Ilena inviting you to participate.  If you have a moment please take the time fill out the survey.  Everyone who does gets a copy of the results as well as a chance to win a full boat pass to RSA.  Sounds like a  good deal to me!

Dear IT Security Professional,

I am writing to ask if you will take a few minutes to help with some vital industry research.

A legion of data exposures have occurred over the past year, with many affected companies not
only being forced to address customer and investor concerns, but also pay fines and adhere to prolonged sets of requirements administered by the Federal Trade Commission. So just how is news of such breaches, exposures and possible thefts affecting the way organizations -- large and small -- focus on information security plans?

This survey, Guarding against a data breach, aims to find out and should take less than 15 minutes to complete. Click here to take the survey:

To thank you for your time, we will send you a copy of the full results at no charge. Additionally, you will be placed in a drawing to receive one of two available full conference passes to the RSA Conference 2008, which will be held in San Francisco, California from April 7 -11.

Analysis of the feedback will appear in the form of a special section in the January 2008 edition of SC Magazine. All feedback will be analyzed in aggregate and responses will remain anonymous.

To participate, click here.

Please respond by Wednesday, Oct. 31 in order for your opinions to be used.