Network Security, Vulnerability Management

Kevin Hickey, CEO, BeyondTrust

BeyondTrust CEO, Kevin Hickey, will be attending the RSA Conference this year because he believes it gives security enterprises the best chance to drive both business and awareness.

What events will you be attending this year in San Francisco?

I'll be attending the annual RSA Conference this month and Red Hat later this year.

What influenced your decision to attend/not attend?

Attendance at RSA is really about two things: driving business and driving awareness. RSA gives us the opportunity to talk to people, both in-person and in-depth, about our vulnerability management and privilege management solutions. Whether attendees are looking at us for the first time, or looking to upgrade, we can provide insight into what's new and what's coming on our product roadmap. Some other industry shows are a little more cutting edge and forward leaning, and while those are great for emerging technologies, we need to go where our existing and potential customers will be.

What do you anticipate the most as far as conference talks this year?

I'm looking forward to continuing discussions on current trends in the marketplace. Security is a hot topic these days and there are a lot of areas that attendees will want to learn more about. In my opinion, the biggest topic will be security intelligence. Questions you should expect are: What does it mean? How do people define it? I'm Interested to hear what the trend will be from others attending the show, with regards to solving these questions. Analytics is also going to be a major issue. Organizations need better information to determine and prioritize the true risk to their business. These risks can take the form of legal, customer, reputational and financial.

Given the RSA/NSA news, what kind of impact do you feel this will have on the show this year?

I think there will be a certain level of impact that's to be expected at the show. Obviously, and this has been covered in the media over the past few weeks, there will be organizations and individuals who choose not to attend RSA this year. What they need to keep in mind is that this is the major industry event of the year where everyone gets together. While there might be a slight hit in terms of public perception,  I don't believe that the show will be affected very much. In the larger picture, thousands of attendees will still come to San Francisco to take part. I'll throw an analogy at you. Think of RSA like the GM meetings in Major League Baseball. A lot of trades won't come to fruition, but the foundation will be laid for future work with customers and partners across the industry. That's what RSA is all about.

What are some pressing concerns/threats in the industry that you feel will be discussed this year?

Again, I feel that we as an industry are always looking ahead (sometimes too far ahead) when we haven't yet solved the problems that are here today. Think about this for a minute, over 90 percent of attacks that take place are from known vulnerabilities – 90 percent. While we at BeyondTrust are always anticipating forward-looking trends, we'll remain in the best position if as we continue to be able to help people solve today's problems.

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