Cybersecurity and Resilience: RSA Conference 2021 Highlights

At the end of May the internet was abuzz with tweets, posts, images, and stories from attendees at the RSA Conference 2021. This year’s conference theme was Resilience, a major trend not only in cybersecurity, but in the working world at large.
More than 700 speakers from across the globe in various cyber or cyber-adjacent industries came together for 250 informational talks, and a total of 449 sessions including keynotes, seminars, workshops, track sessions, and tutorials. Keynotes included Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO of Cisco, Marene Allison, Chief Information Security Officer at Johnson & Johnson, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and, of course, Rohit Ghai, CEO of RSA.
Resilience was the common thread among these sessions, which covered artificial intelligence, analytics, anti-fraud, privacy, machine learning, policy, government, risk management, and governance. In presenting this year’s theme, the conference organizers declared: 
“We are linked by a mission to take on cyberthreats that are, by nature, relentless. They are conceived by those who persistently attempt to steal our data, our wealth, and our peace of mind. We are also connected by world events that threaten the very foundation of our profession. We respond by searching ever deeper within ourselves to create solutions that can withstand and quickly recover from whatever adversity is thrown at us…Being resilient requires infinite strength. There can be no let ups. No breaks. No finish lines. Just an unending passion to evolve, adapt and do everything possible to protect the people and organizations that rely on us as their advocates. We will do more than survive. We will thrive.”
Here are some key highlights from the RSA team itself:

Sudhakar Ramakrishna, President and CEO of SolarWinds, shared his unique perspective around the anatomy of the attack, timeline, and specific learnings from the incident.

Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, hosted Cybersecurity as a National Imperative where she framed the Biden Administration’s approach to safeguarding U.S. cybersecurity and modernizing cybersecurity defenses.

Steve Wozniak, gave a peek into the mind of an optimistic creator by sharing his experiences, revelations, and perspective of a bright future.

Apiiro was named RSA Conference 2021’s “Most Innovative Startup” by a panel of expert judges during the sixteenth annual RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest.

Professor David Pointcheval received the annual RSAC Excellence in the Field of Mathematics Award for his work developing provable-security arguments for applied public-key cryptographic systems and protocols.

RSAC College Day welcomed over 500 college students who attended dedicated events, and experienced RSA Conference sessions and the Digital Expo.

RSAC Marketplace, a newly added digital resource inspired by the community. The equivalent to a year-round Expo, RSAC Marketplace is a single source to search for cybersecurity products, solutions and services based on particular needs.

The Gula Tech Foundation awarded $1M to three nonprofits that are expanding our industry to one of “data care,” which represents an effort to broaden the cybersecurity industry to be more inclusive and increase personal responsibility for data.

NINJIO’s takeaways? These themes stood out:

Prevention and education are more important than ever. As cyber attacks revv up, it’s never been more critical for employees and consumers to understand how to spot hacking attempts before they can cause any serious damage. Education is key!

Cybersecurity is no laughing matter. The issue of comedy in cybersecurity training has gotten more attention over the last few years as training programs and cinematic representations of hackers alike have given way to humorous interpretations of cyber attacks. But that can be extremely dangerous to teams.Check out our comedy report for tips on how to use humor wisely in a training environment. 

Resilience is everything. It’s up to companies to strengthen the infrastructure they have in place for cybersecurity as well as develop a culture of security that includes training on how to bounce back after an attack. This means understanding and integrating technologies, and most importantly, ensuring the security protocols are clear and accessible to all employees. 

To catch up on the action, you can still buy an On Demand Pass to get access to the recording of all the informative sessions and keynotes, or browse hundreds of vendor solutions with a free RSAC Marketplace Pass. 
For more details, check out the full post-conference press release here.