Over 42,000 people attended the RSA Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco last week.  For those who aren’t familiar with RSA, it is the largest and probably most influential global cybersecurity event, bringing together people and companies from all over the world to talk about security practices and technology.

Heavy rain in the Bay Area did not deter anyone from attending – in fact, this year’s conference was bigger than ever. Hundreds of vendors filled up the show floor, waiting to impress the attendees with their products. They took up not only the north and south halls of the Moscone Center, but also the space between them.

Equipped with comfortable shoes, an empty bag for swag, and an abundance of curiosity, I hit the show floor ready to talk security. Like with any other conference, if you can look past the fancy displays and badge scanning, you can find many smart people to engage in conversation. I started out by talking to some of TPx’s security vendors such as Fortinet, Webroot, CounterTack, Rapid 7, and NetScout.

I expected to hear a lot of buzz about AI and machine learning this year, as that was a big theme last year. However, it became clear after talking to our vendors and many other attendees that there wasn’t going to be a specific trend this year.  It was more about going “back to basics,” building a layered approach when it comes to cybersecurity and technology:

• Solid perimeter defense with a properly configured next-gen firewall
• Properly patched endpoint running a next gen anti-virus
• Identity and access management
• Phishing defenses
• DDoS protection
• Proper monitoring and control of the network

Here are some of my favorite quotes from our vendors:

Stephan Tallent, Fortinet’s Sr. Director, MSSP & Service Enablement: “Managed security service providers were out in full force as many sought to simplify the daunting security challenge that RSA illuminates with the myriad of security vendors on display, all vying for attention. So many security vendors, so few that actually share and operationalize threat intelligence across the attack surface.”

George Anderson from Webroot: “Customers want less complexity, more simplicity, more integration, and more one-stop-shop places to go to. Often people are too focused on security as being products and technology and not enough being about human beings.”

This year’s RSA Conference only served to reinforce that TPx is doing the right thing for its customers by offering managed services that address a layered approach.  TPx doesn’t look to replace IT teams, but rather help companies augment their IT teams with enterprise-level technology and services that most small and mid-sized businesses can’t afford doing on their own, especially not 24/7.

If you attended RSA this year, what were the highlights of the conference for you? Share them with us in the comments.

About the Author

Erik Nordquist is the Senior Product Manager for TPx Communications’ managed security services. He’s led a broad range of critical activities, including Field Operations and the Hostmaster team where he built TPx’s anycast DNS network to service its 55,000 customer locations. His work on the Network Integrity team made him the resident expert for mitigating Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. After interfacing with customers for years, Erik is bringing his customer-focused approach to his Product Manager role, helping to deliver first-in-class security services to TPx clients with unsurpassed customer support.