From the hundreds of panels and talks to the often quirky expo floor displays, artificial intelligence and its potential impact on the cybersecurity industry is the topic of choice at this year’s RSA Conference in San Francisco.
Here’s a look at what’s going on right now:
That’s a wrap: Alicia Keys brings down the house
May 9, 2024 at 2:50 p.m. PT
What does a 16-time Grammy award winner have to do with cybersecurity? Not much, but a mini Alicia Keys concert was a spectacular way to close out this year’s RSA Conference.
In one of the most entertaining closing keynotes in the conference’s recent history, Keys performed some of her greatest hits, including If I Ain’t Got You and New York State of Mind, along with a cover of the Eurythmics song Sweet Dreams, to a packed room.
While the RSA Conference is generally focused on the cybersecurity industry, its closing keynotes often stray into the world of entertainment. Recent performers have included comedian Seth Meyers and magicians Penn and Teller.
Keys, whose Broadway musical Hell’s Kitchen is currently up for 13 Tony nominations, was backed by a small band of musicians, but filled the stage with an amazing vocal performance.
While reactions among the massive crowd of cybersecurity professionals and other attendees ranged from sitting quietly to dancing in the aisles, most people were on their feet by the end of the set. And even those seated far in the back held their phones over their heads in attempts to snag a picture or some video.
Intermission: Ted Lasso’s creator talks positivity
May 8, 2024 at 11:30 a.m. PT
The character of Ted Lasso and his seemingly unflappable positive attitude was in part a response to the increasingly mean and snarky tone TV sitcom characters were taking in the years leading up to the show’s creation, Lasso’s creator, Jason Sudeikis, told RSA attendees on Wednesday.
During a morning keynote, Sudeikis told a packed convention hall how the character of Lasso came to be and about the impact it’s since had on TV and society.
The story of a seemingly unqualified American football coach who moves to England to lead a British soccer team was originally created back in 2013 to promote NBC Sports broadcasts of British Premier League soccer.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the RSA Conference Monday in San Francisco.
As the distinction between the digital and physical worlds continues to erode, the role of technology and its security is becoming an increasingly critical part of global diplomacy, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
“Security, stability and prosperity are no longer solely analog matters,” Blinken said during his RSA Conference keynote, adding that the choices that security professionals make today “will reverberate for generations.”
In a wide-ranging address, Blinken spoke about the need for the US to be a leader in everything from semiconductor production and training a high-tech workforce to setting development rules for cutting-edge technologies like AI and quantum computing.
He noted that if a potentially dangerous technology like genomic surveillance were to be dominated by America’s rivals, its abuse could become commonplace, causing irreversible damage.
Blinken also said that the furthering and protection of democracy around the world will continue to hinge on the involvement of American tech companies, especially those in the security industry. He pointed to the help given to Ukraine by many US companies in hardening their networks and bolstering their communications ahead of and after Russia’s invasion of the country.
The legacy of WarGames
May 6, 2024 at 3 p.m. PT
Monday’s afternoon keynotes kicked off with a surprise appearance by actor Matthew Broderick, who notably played a teenage hacker in the 1980s cult classic WarGames.
Broderick said that the plot of the movie, in which his character accidentally hacked into a military supercomputer while searching for new video games, might seem ridiculous to today’s security experts, but it prompted then-President Ronald Reagan to call together members of his cabinet, Congress and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to talk about whether something like that could actually happen.
What Reagan discovered was that the problem was much worse than that, Broderick said. And, eventually, Reagan’s interest in the film is credited with helping enact the first presidential directive on computer security.
We’ll be updating this story with more coverage from RSA throughout the week.
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