UNITED Security Summit to Explore Truth, Lies and Decisions in an Insecure World

Boston, MA — August 22, 2012

Rapid7, the leading provider of security risk intelligence solutions, today announced the complete agenda for the annual UNITED Security Summit on September 12-14, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco, CA. UNITED, which stands for “Using New Ideas to Empower Defenders” will bring together IT managers, leading-edge security professionals, innovative startups, open source projects, and academics to foster open collaboration and innovation in addressing the ever-changing security landscape. This year's theme, “Truth, Lies, and Decisions: Moving Forward in an Insecure World” will discuss the need for open information sharing to move forward in addressing modern security challenges, and the role that hype and deception play in derailing security operations.

“It is important to be open and honest so that the decisions made within an organization and the collaboration that occurs in the workplace every day really is beneficial and forward-moving,” said Mark Arnold, a Boston OWASP chapter lead that attended the 2011 UNITED Security Summit. Mark is attending this year's event and in a recent blog post he added: “I hear the same oft-repeated mantras about 'how we should change mindsets and paradigms in this industry.' UNITED provides the perfect arena to openly discuss and unite the security community for honest, continuous, and insightful discussions about what the large picture and practices should be.”

Keeping with the theme of truth, lies, and decisions, the UNITED keynote will be presented by Dan Heath, award-winning author, journalist, and speaker best known for co-writing best-sellers Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard and Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Dan is known for his unique way of blending practical information with a funny and motivational style.

A number of researchers and practitioners working in the trenches of information security will present insights based on their latest findings and hands-on experiences. For example, HD Moore, CSO of Rapid7, will present findings from a research project that has involved scanning the internet for the past four months. Wendy Nather, research director at analyst company, 451 Research, will explain “Why Doing Application Security Remediation Is Like Building a Rube Goldberg Machine,” while Dave Kennedy, founder and principal at TrustedSec, will advise attendees on “Going on the Offensive.”Attendees will also hear from security end-users, such as, Bob Rudis, who will explain how he designs a compelling and effective security awareness program for Liberty Mutual.

This year's theme will also be explored through interactive sessions such as “Debates: Truth & Lies in Security,” which has been included as a nod to the election year. This session will have panel members defending a 'True' or 'False' stance on prepared or audience-submitted statements surrounding controversial security issues. In addition, the final session of the conference, “Nuggets of Wisdom: Take Aways from UNITED” will provide panel and audience members with a chance to share truths and lies they have had confirmed or discounted by others at the event, and talk about steps to take going forward with this fresh information.

The UNITED Security Summit will also encourage networking and relaxed discussions among security executives, practitioners, and thought leaders through presentations, interactive Ask-the-Expert panels, Birds-of-a-Feather discussions, and real-life case studies. Content throughout the conference will emphasize the application of best practices in an organization, the most cutting-edge way to look at data, and how to make decisions in complex environments. Attendees of the UNITED Security Summit will be eligible for up to 16 CPE credits, depending on the number of sessions they attend. On Wednesday, September 12, there will be the UNITED Security Summit Party.