RSA Conference 2018 AdvancedU expands security education to new audiences
RSA Conference is known among CTOs, CISOs and information security professionals as the place where the world talks security. What started as a small cryptography conference in the early 1990s now brings close to 45,000 attendees together in San Francisco each year. But as the conference expands, so does its influence among new audiences – spanning beyond the security C-Suite and reaching students, parents and educators and infosec professionals at all stages of their careers.
This is predominately realized through the expansion of the RSAC AdvancedU Education Program. RSAC AdvancedU is a series of programs that educates the community on things like cyber-awareness for children; provides outreach to college students to introduce and encourage a career in information security; and supports education throughout the various stages of a career within the industry via CPE credits and LoyaltyPlus benefits for industry veterans.
Scholarly student?
One of the most notable components of RSAC AdvancedU is the RSAC Security Scholar Program, which works with participating universities to identify 60 college students to attend RSA Conference to learn about the evolving information security industry, forge lasting connections within the community, engage with industry luminaries and participate in unique learning and team building events. Attendees can meet with the selected scholars at the Open Poster Session at RSAC on Wednesday, April 18 from 11:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. in Moscone West, Level 2. Ahead of RSA Conference, several of these poster boards and abstracts are available to view on the RSA Conference website.
Similarly, RSAC College Day provides all current university students free access to the Conference on Thursday, April 19. Opening with a continental breakfast, students will hear from industry experts discussing the career paths in different information security sectors. Attending students will then have access to more than 650 exhibitors and startups, as well as 50+ sessions featuring experts in legal, technical advancement, policy, hackers and threat research.
Parent or educator?
There is also a RSAC CyberSmart Parents Education Workshop on Monday, April 16 that focuses on educating and arming parents, caregivers and educators with the knowledge and tools to keep their families safe in the digital world. Attendees will learn about the dangers families can face when online and ways to protect against modern-day threats.
Long-distance learner?
In addition to this programming, RSAC onDemand will make its debut at the 2018 Conference this week. The new RSAC onDemand program will provide participants the RSA Conference experience without leaving their home or office. Featuring some of the Conference’s most looked-forward-to moments, RSAC onDemand puts critical and relevant industry information online for all to access and enjoy. The content featured through onDemand seeks to give individuals who may not have the time, budget or resources to attend the Conference in person the opportunity to learn about information security, from anywhere at any time. Those who enroll in RSAC onDemand will have access to select livestreamed sessions and on-demand recordings, such as the Industry Experts Track and the Monday seminars including GDPR Essentials, Foundations of Bitcoin, Ransomware & Destructive Attacks and Securing Diversity seminar.
As information security and privacy becomes an “everybody issue,” expert insight and discussion on topics like data privacy, social engineering and phishing, and IoT in healthcare will be more applicable to our everyday lives. While not everyone can proclaim to be a security pundit, RSAC’s AdvancedU and onDemand programs at the 2018 Conference aim to make the average technology user more interested and more aware when it comes to data security and privacy.