RSA Conference Europe kicked off today in Amsterdam at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre in the Netherlands. We are so excited to be here. While it may be a new venue, we have maintained the same great energy and in-depth content that everyone expects from previous events. The keynotes got the conference off to a great start - being both thought-provoking and engaging. And there was plenty of lively conversations in the corridors and break-out rooms inspired by the track sessions and other content.

As always, Art Coviello, Executive Chairman of RSA opened the keynotes with Amit Yoran, Senior VP. Art is fantastic at capturing the pulse of the Conference, setting the tone and affirmed how security and privacy must be properly aligned to enable productivity opportunities in the digital economy. The talk focused on big data’s transformative effects on information security and responding to next generation threats through security intelligence, a topic still very much in focus at this year's conference. Stephen Trilling, SVP, Chief Technology Officer, Symantec Corporation shared a new paradigm for protecting assets against targeted, modern attackers and threats that have moved beyond traditional defenses. Mike Reavey, Senior Director, Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft talked about“A New Era of Operational Security in Online Services.” that covered how security must evolve to support the growing number of cloud services fueling the modern enterprise.

Luc Dandurand, Senior Scientist, NATO Communications and Information Agency held a very informative session today on Cyber Security Information Exchange exploring the high-level requirements of a Cyber Security Data Exchange and work needed to develop it.

Mike Small, Senior Analyst at Kuppinger Cole also focused on Big Data: Information Stewardship: Avoiding Data Breaches and Managing Big Data that looked at the nature of information security risks, describing how better information stewardship based on information-centric security is essential.

In Crypto Commons, the hub of RSA Conference Europe where our sponsors are located, was in full swing until early evening for our Welcome Reception – we had a jammed back room filled with informative discussions and networking. Crypto Commons also held the hugely popular Flash Talks – a few brave souls delivered 20 slides for 20 seconds each to a room full of inspired viewers. Presenters included Hugh Thompson from BlueCoat and also the RSA Conference Program Chair (@drhughthompson), Martin McKeay from Akamai (@mckeay) and Javvad Malik (@j4vv4d) from The 451 Group and they all did a fantastic job.

News from our sponsors today:

·         Trustworthy Computing released volume 15 of the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, which provides threat intelligence and analysis of cyber threats in over 100 countries/regions worldwide.  Read more here.

·         Zscaler announced Zscaler for Office 365, a new cloud-based service that enables security and visibility for Office 365 without the increased bandwidth and security limitations of traditional hub-and-spoke MPLS networks that can negatively impact user experience. Read more >>

·         New RSA Security Brief Provides Roadmap for Next Generation Security Operations - New report identifies top areas for improvement and provides practical guidance on measures that deliver the greatest impact on organizations’ ability to respond to cyber attacks and data breaches.  Read the report >>

·         RSA today unveiled a new software solution, RSA Vulnerability Risk Management (VRM). RSA VRM takes a Big Data approach to help security teams identify and prioritize high risk threats. Read the announcement >>

Media Coverage today:

·         Computer Weekly: RSA reiterates call to arms to IT security industry

·         TechWeekEurope: RSA’s Art Coviello: Anonymity Is The Enemy Of Privacy

·         IT Pro Portal: RSA Europe 2013: Live coverage from Amsterdam

·         IT Pro Portal: RSA Europe 2013: Privacy concerns must not stall network surveillance, says chairman Coviello

·         IT Web: Talking data, disruption at RSA Europe

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Have you downloaded the RSA Conference Europe Mobile App yet? It's an easy way to view schedules and explore sessions if you don't want to carry around the Programme Guide. More info at www.rsaconference.com/eumobile. And don’t forget to follow the conversation on Twitter - #RSAC, and follow us on LinkedIn, facebook and YouTube.

See you tomorrow!

Linda