The first quarter of the year is an active one for PAN’s Security Practice and our security clients. We’ve been preparing for months for the annual RSA Conference (RSAC) in San Francisco, the biggest security event in the world. RSA serves as the premier platform for companies to launch products, set agendas, start discussions and learn about what the rest of the industry is up to. This year, more than 50,000 attendees are expected to flock to the Moscone Center from March 4-8. Hard to believe the event is less than one week away!

As we prep for the show, our team took a look at the top security-related topics being discussed and the influential voices that have been weighing in ahead of the event.

The Buzz is Building

One key takeaway is that the buzz is building. One week prior to RSAC, there have been nearly 7,000 tweets about the show, tying in various show-related hashtags. That amounts to about 63 million impressions – up from 5,000 tweets and 50 million impressions in 2018.  The conference continues to capture the attention of security professionals around the world.

Hacking is Trending

As for hot topics, it’s clear that security hacks are high on the agenda. Outside of conference and general industry hashtags (i.e., #security and #infosec), the most common hashtags referencing the conference were #Hacking and #Hackers. This is a big difference from 2018, when these hashtags didn’t even crack the top 10. Last year, #IoT climbed into the 10^th spot, but has since lost its ranking to hacking-related topics. The conference itself is throwing its weight behind hack prevention, with more than 80 sessions being labeled primarily in the “hackers & threats” category – covering such hot-button issues as election hacking and cryptojacking.

Interestingly, the most re-tweeted post leading up to the conference had nothing to do with it’s prominent speakers (like former Cisco CEO John Chambers), industry events (the RSA CISO Boot Camp) or after-hours gatherings (Game Night, Whiskey & Wine Tasting). In fact, the most attention-grabbing post is a video from the World Economic Forum about Japan hacking people’s devices (ranging from routers to webcams) in an effort to educate people and improve security. It has already been tweeted by branding expert Raoul Davis (@Ceo_Branding).

Influential Voices

Who’s driving RSAC online discussions? Some of the more influential voices in the conversation include security and cloud industry influencer Evan Kirstel (@evankirstel); ITSP Magazine Editors Selena Templeton (@SelenaTempleton); Sean Martin (@sean_martin) and Marco Ciappelli (@MarcoCiappelli); the Diana Initiative (@DianaInitiative), a non-profit that supports women in InfoSec; and Microsoft’s CVP Ann Johnson (@ajohnsocyber).

We’re excited for a busy and productive conference, supporting our clients with strategically timed and targeted media relations, influencer engagement and social campaigns. David Bowker, Vice President and lead of PAN’s Security Practice, along with colleagues Tim Munroe, John Vernon and Marki Conway, will be at the show helping clients and engaging in our own security discussions with peers, reporters and industry leaders. We look forward to seeing you there.

Stay tuned for our recap blog after the show for all the highlights, and learn more about PAN’s Security Practice here.