After months of anticipation and buildup, RSA Conference 2014 kicks off today at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. Taking place February 24 to February 28, RSAC is bringing together the top information security professionals and business leaders from around the world to discuss emerging cybersecurity trends and formulate best strategies for tackling current and future cyber-threats. 

This year we head into the most discussed conference in our history with tens of thousands of attendees converging on San Francisco to continue the dialog, share information and drive collective intelligence from both the private and public sectors. The cyber-security industry is stronger than it has ever been and RSA Conference has become the platform where the world talks security. 

There will be over 400 exhibitors and 500+ speakers at this year’s event including a notable lineup of keynotes: Nawaf Bitar,  Juniper Networks, Inc.; Scott Charney, Microsoft Corporation; Stephen Colbert, New York Times best-selling author; James Comey, Director, FBI; Philippe Courtot, Qualys; Arthur W. Coviello, Jr., RSA; Mike Fey, McAfee; Art Gilliland, Hewlett-Packard Company; Scott Harrison, , charity: water; Kevin Mandia, FireEye; Peter Sims, Best-selling author; Herbert “Hugh” Thompson, Ph.D, RSA Conference; Stephen Trilling, Symantec Corp; Padmasree Warrior and Chris Young,Cisco; and Taylor Wilson, Nuclear Scientist and STEM Education Evangelist, among others. 

In addition to the great keynote line-up, some of the highlights at RSA Conference 2014 I’m most excited about includes:

• Innovation Sandbox – Kicking off on Monday, February 24, the popular Innovation Sandbox program will culminate with one finalist being named “RSA Conference 2014’s Most Innovative Company.”
• Exclusive Sessions on Industry Hot Topics – Throughout the week, RSA Conference will be hosting a number of sessions covering pressing topics like surveillance and privacy, Software Defined Networks (SDN), Analytics and Big Data, the Human Element and many more.
• The Cryptographers’ Panel – On Tuesday, February 25, join the founders and leaders of cryptography for an engaging panel discussion about the latest advances in the field, including research areas to watch in 2014 and insights drawn from lessons learned over the last three decades.
• Charity:water challenge – Attendees can get involved by participating in the RSA Conference charity: water Challenge taking place in The Sandbox, Moscone North room 134. The challenge, walking with a full jerry can of water, simulates conditions for those who have to struggle for clean water each day. If 300 attendees complete the challenge, RSA Conference will fund two water projects in Nepal, each of which will serve 400 students.
• STEM Education Coalition – RSA Conference is challenging the industry to cultivate future information security leaders by joining the STEM Education Coalition. The Conference’s goal is to partner with 20 security organizations to join the STEM Education Coalition, fund STEM awareness, lobby Congress on education policy and deliver curriculum to students from kindergarten through higher education. Attendees are encouraged to interact with the STEM Education Coalition during RSA Conference by tweeting @StemEdCoalition 

To stay connected during the conference I recommend: 

• Download the conference app
• Follow us on twitter @RSAConference

Please stay tuned to the blog as I’ll be providing updates and my perspective each day on the activity taking place here at Moscone. I hope to see you as I walk the halls!