Punctuation Substitution

Ze Frank moderated the 2007 RSA Conference; I could not resist including this little sketch of his. 

Enjoy!

Rizvi takes Ellison’s Debut Spot at RSA 2007

It is 3:12 p.m. and I watch in hopeless fascination as Hasan Rizvi, Vice President, Identity Management and Security Products for Oracle, takes the stage at RSA 2007; he wasn’t meant to be here, everyone was waiting for Larry Ellison.

At 2.55 p.m., Rizvi appeared and explained Ellison couldn’t make his debut Keynote; turns out he has the flu and sent Rizvi in his place.

I must applaud Rizvi; we are witnessing the true meaning of exodus – yet he keeps soldiering on.

People are not happy and I can already see the headlines – I hope they stop and think about Larry; he’s a clever man, he would not blow this off on account of flu.  There is either something seriously wrong, or he is really a ratfink!

Symantec’s Smart Computing: Helping Consumers Make Smart Choices

Another keynote speaker at RSA 2007 is Symantec‘s Chairman and CEO John Thompson who today said fostering consumer confidence in the security of Internet transactions is the “one thing upon which the growth of this online world depends.”

Regardless of the name put to it, he tells us, the Information Age is here and we are in an era where the user is in charge. 

People want connectivity 24 hours a day to transfer money, renew memberships, collaborate, and buy essentials – but they also want the surety that their security systems will keep the bad guys out.

“How do we make sure that when we are logging onto a bank it is our bank?” he asks, “How do you verify confidentiality?”

He points to critical changes in security in the past year and explains it is no longer about the device – it’s about the information.

So how do we secure the information?

Many things according to Mr. Thompson need to change but in the main:

“Do not become complacent with new threats by using old tools; become more innovative in detecting new threats, both enterprise and personal, and start using a user centric approach instead of the technology or platform centric approach we are used to.”

Symantec is demonstrating Norton Internet Security 2007, and Norton Identity Client at the show; a portable solution for any device to help users tell is a site is legitimate by alerting them about the site’s security certificates; whether it is a phishing risk or if its business practices have not rated well.

RSA Conference 2007

So, what is RSA? 

In cryptology, RSA is an algorithm for public-key encryption.   It is important as it created the underpinning of electronic security as we know it today.  Named after its three inventors, Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Len Adelman, the RSA Public Key Cryptosystem was invented in 1977 at MIT.

RSA Security developed the RSA Conference in 1992 as a forum for cryptographers to gather and share knowledge and advancements in the area of Internet security. 

Each year, the conference is built around a theme which highlights a significant example of information security from history.  

This year, the RSA Conference celebrates the influence of 15th century Renaissance man Leon Battista Alberti, the creator of the polyalphabetic cipher.

The RSA Conference 2007 will be held at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, February 5 – 9

Bill Gates: “Anywhere Access” A Reality via IPSec and IPv6

Bill Gates and Microsoft’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie shared the stage for the opening keynote this morning at RSA 2007. 

Gates has a vision of secure and easy “Anywhere Access,” where people can be assured of online security; on anything, from anywhere, at anytime. 

According to Mundie, once upon a time, companies knew who the people were that accessed their information.  Security was once really just a blocking thing – including some, excluding others – but now with the Internet, things are changing.  

Consultants are called in, employees work remotely; companies have more partners, more vendors.  With so many people accessing information, companies are faced with new vulnerabilities.

Now, companies need to provide employees/consultants with “health” certificates, granting access only to specific appropriate information.

“To make the vision real, we need to reevaluate our systems, networks, identity and data protection, look at certificates in general and smart cards as specific.” Gates said.

According to Microsoft, the key technologies that will enable this “Trustworthy Computing” environment are IPSec and the next generation of the Internet Protocol, IPv6.

Microsoft’s recently released Vista and upcoming Longhorn support hybrid IPv4/IPv6 environments as well as pure IPv6.