RSA Conference Draws 28,500 Attendees

Those boycotting this year’s RSA Conference over the controversy that RSA accepted $10 million from the NSA to ensure a vulnerable encryption algorithm was used by default in RSA’s BSAFE toolkit had little affect on the overall success of the conference. 

Conference organizers on Monday said that its 23rd annual event drew a record of more than 28,500 attendees.

In his keynote, Art Coviello, executive chairman of EMC’s RSA security division, addressed the issue that sparked several confirmed speakers to cancel, and others saying they would not attend dues to RSA’s deals with the NSA.

The organizers have also announced the dates for next year’s conference, which they have moved slightly, assumed to not conflict with Mobile World Congress, which takes place in Barcelona around the same time.

RSA Conference 2015 will take place April 20 – 24, 2015 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, organizers said.

“Leading up to RSA Conference 2014 it could have been argued that this event was the most important in our 23 year history,” said Alex Bender, General Manager of RSA Conference. “Over the last twelve months information security has experienced tremendous highs, weathered scrutiny and realized growing credibility on Wall Street. As a result of this increased exposure, it was critical to have an RSA Conference full of constructive dialog, discussion and debate that will form the information security agenda and continue to move our industry into a positive, successful future. We look forward to continue to share, learn and secure with our attendees throughout 2014.”

In Q2’14, RSA Conference will announce a series of industry events across Europe to address how attendees want to learn and consume information. A new regional focus is also being created to provide security professionals with content and expertise tailored to their location and regulatory needs, RSA said.

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