Sure it is, pal. Look at the conference schedule and despair, because once again your clone army isn't ready to attend the event with you, fanning out to catch all the panels and so forth you're going to miss.
Good security info? No lack of it at RSA. What you need are clones or time. Barring more of either, you'd take a cheat sheet to which events seem most likely to give you the feeling that though you couldn't be everywhere at RSA, you were where you wanted to be. We here at Computerworld.com will be covering as many of these events as we can, of course; keep an eye on the Security Knowledge Center and our security blogs for more information. Here's what to expect, day by day:
Monday
Come on, now. If you're on board for Monday, you've already selected the tutorial of your dreams -- "Learn to Speak Crypto" (event M11-TUT, located in Burgundy Room 130, 9:00 a.m.), perhaps. If you're still in transit, take a moment to contemplate this year's conference inspiration, Renaissance polymath and father of Western cryptography Leon Battista Alberti. Reflect glumly on ability of Alberti to pursue painting, architecture, mathematics, a rigorous workout schedule, etc. while developing the first known Western polyalphabetic cipher. Note that Alberti never had to file quarterly reports and didn't have e-mail. Suspect the march of progress is headed backwards.
Tuesday
The keynote to beat is Bill Gates, whom you may recognize from Jon Stewart's show the other day (event KEY-101, Hall D, 8:00 a.m.); more techish folk should also enjoy the all-star Cryptographers Panel (KEY-104, Hall D, 10:40am). Elsewhere, the expo floor opens. You've got three panel time slots on Tuesday, and each has not one but two speakers you'd love to hear. This will, by the way, be the easiest day of the week.
1:30 p.m. sessions
Plenty of rootkit fun for everyone this hour. If you're not ready for Eset Software LLC's demo on the expo floor (EXPO-103), head for the "Rootkits: Beyond Good and Evil" panel, an intermediate-level discussion with kit developers, academics and deployers (HT1-105, Green Room 102).
3:00 p.m. sessions
Perennial draw Bruce Schneier (EXP-106, Green Room 103) holds forth on the Psychology of Security. Always good stuff, but consider instead dropping on anti-malware maven Eugene Kaspersky (HT1-106, Green Room 102) detailing "the Dark Side of Cybercrime: Details on the Latest Hacker Tactics from Around the World." From Moscow with love, that's right. And intellectual-property folk may enjoy Naomi Fine and Yvonne Kisiel's group discussion on "Information Classifications: How do IS, Legal and Users Find Commons Ground?" (P2P-106B, Orange Room 238) Ah, but the ground is already common; it's capturing the territory that's at stake... what, wrong attitude? Sorry...
4:10 p.m. sessions
If you can't spare time for talk of futuristic "spear-phishing" techniques at "Phuture Phishing: More Targeted Then Ever" (CONS-107, Gold Room 307), you'll have to choose between two big panels: "Virtualization and Security" featuring Oracle Chief Technology Officer Mary Ann Davidson (DEPL-107, Burgundy Room 130) and "Handling a Massive ID Theft" (EXP-107, Green Room 103) with the FBI's Dan Larkin and former White House cybersecurity adviser Howard Schmidt. To repeat, the week will only get tougher from here.
5:40 p.m. sessions
You've got to admire whoever scheduled the "Hacking Hollywood" look at technology in pop culture (with ihackstuff.com's Johnny Long, HT1-X108, Green Room 102) for day's end -- a nice way to wrap up the first insane day. If you're still relatively alert, though, consider either "Honeyclient Tech and Client-Side Exploit Research" with The Mitre Corp. information security engineer Kathy Wang (HT2-108, Green Room 104) or the empaneled goodness of "It's The Data: Securing the Enterprise in the Age of the Data Breach," with the Ponemon Institute's Lawrence Ponemon leading the charge (BUS-108, Gold Room 301).
Wednesday
There's a fresh (?) face in today's keynoter lineup as Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison takes the stage in the civilized 2:45 p.m. time slot (Hall D). Other names you might recognize today include the ever-fascinating Ray Kurzweil, talking up the Singularity at 5:00 p.m. (Hall D) and Computerworld.com columnist Ira Winkler squaring off against Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras at "Identity Theft and Cybercrime: Where Thieves, Victims, Industry and Government Intersect" (TOWN-204, Green Room 103, 12:15 p.m.).
Elsewhere on Wednesday:
8:00 a.m. sessions
Tough choices early in the day, with many good panels in this spot. AJAX folk should make note of the first of two security panels of interest; the other's on Friday, so your schedule may be better for this morning's "AJAX Security: Smashing Web 2.0 for Fun and Profit," brought to you by Mike Armistead and Arthur Do of Fortify Software Inc. (HT2-201, Green Room 104). Government cybersecurity mavens will convene at 'Protecting U.S. Cyberspace: Coordinating National Response to Cyberattacks" (GOV-201, Burgundy Room 130, and let's all be sure to ask about the Boston Aqua Teen Hunger Force incident). One suspects that the mainstream media will be flocking to the Big Scariness that topic entails, but perhaps some of them will temper their views with Daniel Houser at "Debunking InfoSec Myths and Urban Legends" (EXP-201, Green Room 103). Let's ask him about Aqua Teen Hunger Force while we're at it.
9:10 a.m. sessions
Bring the sticks and torches -- we're going bot-hunting with Christopher Boyd and Anthony Porter of FaceTime Communications Inc., who promise live demonstrations at "Botnet Live: Tracing, Chasing and Building the Case to Bust the Bad Guys" (HT1-202, Green Room 102). Those hoping to get a handle on the security problems that exist between chair and keyboard are directed to Gold Room 307, where Trend Micro Inc. global director of education David Perry and University of Houston professor Art Conklin will hold forth on "End-User Behavior and Internet Security" (CONS-202). More use for the sticks and torches, perhaps. Or you can go grill a Visa U.S.A. Inc. vice president Eduardo Perez and his co-panelists at "Keep Your Customers Loyal: Avoid the Data Privacy Breach (SOL-202, Burgundy Room 133).
10:40 a.m. sessions
You think about your bank and your government, but what you do know about database security at the schools you or your kids have attended? (And yes, they've got plenty of your data. Think how your alumni-giving fund manages to hunt you down so ruthlessly.) "Protecting Public Confidence in Databases" (DEPL-203, Burgundy Room 132) has a number of security administrators from educational institutions; it should be worth checking out for a fresh perspective. Elsewhere, lawyers and security architects will shield their eyes as "Vulnerability Reporting and Full Disclosure: The Naked Truth" (LAW-203, Burgundy Room 131) is revealed. And Black Hat founder Jeff Moss is among the panel gathering for "Corporate Crimeware" (HT1-203, Green Room 102), which will dissect the current and future threats that really matter to corporate installations.
12:30 p.m. sessions
A respite from the tyranny of choice is, ironically, all about choice. VerifiedVoting.org's Jeremy Epstein is speaking in Orange Room 236 on "Electronic Voting 2007: What Works, What Doesn't, and How Technologists Can Affect The Future" (P2P-204A). Fifty minutes of pure fascination. Go ahead and get a good seat in this room; you're going to be here for a while today.
1:40 p.m. sessions
Not to dispute the central importance and revelance of "The Big Application Security Debate: Fix Your Source Code Or Add An Application Firewall?" (P2P-205A, Orange Room 236), but is this a case of preaching to the choir? Or will facilitators Varun Nagaraj of NetContinuum Inc. and Michael Gavin of Security Innovation Inc. help us to build those bridges with developers, who may not realize they need to be at RSA for just conversations such as these?
2:45 p.m. sessions
Again with Orange Room 236, as Security Incite President Mike Rothman discusses how to get senior management and the money guys on board with your plans at "Successfully Selling Your Security Strategy (P2P-206A).
3:50 p.m. sessions
For the title alone, you want to look in on Bank of America Corp. vice president Todd Innskeep hosting "Please (insert name of deity here), I Need Some Help! Where Can I Go?" (P2P-207A, Orange Room 236), but who doesn't need a little help now and then finding reliable info? Yes indeed, there is life beyond Google, and he's going to tell you where.
Thursday
The keynotes move quickly today as TippingPoint co-founder Brian Smith speaks at 3:40 p.m. on "The Quiet Revolution in Network Security" (Hall D). It's a fast revolution, too; he's slotted for just 35 minutes, as is Websense Inc. CEO Gene Hodges' equally promising talk on "Security Uncovered: The Naked Truth" (KEY-306, Hall D, 2:45pm). You've also got a noon town hall with Homeland Security assistant secretary Greg Garcia (TOWN-304, Green Room 103). Elsewhere ...
8 a.m. sessions
Another tough set of first-session choices. "Case Studies in Biometric Ethics" (LAW-301, Burgundy Room 131) promises good case-study material on how the system functioned for investigators looking at the Madrid bombings, along with info on what biometric bits various companies and agencies might want from you. The "Time to Exploit: From Vulnerability to Exploit to Malware" talk (HT2-301, Green Room 104) from IBM's Gunter Ollman should be a disquieting look at how the bad guys operate. The session will be 50 minutes long, and one wonders if the process itself is equally fast at this point. Equally disquieting in quite a different direction, you've got GOV-301, "Heard on the Hill: The Cyber Security Legislative Climate" (Burgundy Room 130), just in time for the new congressional session. And if, after days of high-intensity infoflow, you're ready for something a little kinder and gentler, consider "Becoming 'People' People: The Kinder, Gentler Security Professional" (PROF-301, Gold Room 308), instructing attendees in the fine art of not throttling one's more aggressively ignorant end users.
9:10 a.m. sessions
Join Microsoft's Jeffrey Jones and Michael Howard for a technical discussion of "Fundamental Security Changes in Windows Vista" (DEV-302, Gold Room 309), or hear how financial institutions are addressing ever more sophisticated attacks at "The Power of Many: Sharing Fraud Data Across Financial Institutions" (HT1-302, Green Room 102). If you're more concerned about attacks from inside, "Protecting Your Assets from Inside Security Threats" will be under way nearby in Green Room 104 (HT2-302).
10:40 a.m. sessions
The good news is that you can't make many mistakes with the sessions scheduled in this time slot. The spear-phishing scene comes under more scrutiny in the impressively monikered "Zombie Trojans Throwing Spears! Coming Soon to a Mailbox Near You" (DEF-303, Gold Room 305). Get a look at privacy policies worldwide at "Privacy and Data Security Frameworks Around the Globe: Lessons Learned" (GOV-303, Burgundy Room 130). Crimeware and criminal shenanigans get side-by-side symposia at "The Rise in Crimeware Continues" (HT1-303, Green Room 102) and "Phishers, Pharmers and Thieves, Oh My!: The Inside World of the Fraudster" (HT2-303, Green Room 104).
Friday
Colin Powell sees us out the door as the closing keynote (KEY-406, Hall D, 1:50 p.m.). Go early and secure a good seat while taking in a game of "Phish or No Phish!" with all-star contestant/panelists at "Truth, Lies and Perceptions" (KEY-405, Hall D, 1:10 p.m.). Before that, though, find somewhere to stow your rolling suitcase during the last three panel time slots:
9 a.m. sessions
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service's Ben Rothke frames his talk in management-friendly take-away points in "The Five Habits of Highly Secure Organizations" (PROF-401, Gold Room 308). Meanwhile, IronPort Systems Inc. vice president of technology Patrick Peterson wields the scalpel on a massive junk-mail campaign in "Know Thy Enemy: Deconstructing a 20 Billion-Message Spam Attack" (HT1-401, Green Room 102).
10:05 a.m. sessions
When it comes to legal developments you need to understand, a good panel often beats a pile of after-hours reading. "Electronic Discovery and the New Federal Rules: The First Year" (LAW-402, Burgundy Room 131) will give you a functional framework. In related gotta-know-it topics, WebEx Communications Inc. security manager Michael Machado takes on the "State of Security Reporting" in Gold Room 308 (PROF-402).
11:10 a.m. sessions
A promising technical case study from VeriSign Inc. scientist Phillip Hallam-Baker -- "Unlinkable Identifiers: Privacy Protection in the Identity 2.0 World;" AUTH-403, Gold Room 307 -- promises to be of interest for those concerned with smart cards, radio frequency identification and national ID card efforts. Side-by-side talks dig into the future of malware and its perpetrators: "Money Change$ Everything: New Motivations and Trends in Malware Development" (HT1-403) and "Spam Botnets and Spyware: The Next Generation" (HT2-403) take place in Green Rooms 102 and 104, respectively. And the recent rash of options-backdating scandals gets infosecurity scrutiny from the panel presenting "The Options Backdating Fiasco: Time-Based Data Control Issues Lead to Compliance Problems, Shareholder Lawsuits and Criminal Indictments" (LAW-403, Burgundy Room 403). A fine lead-in to lunch. Now, where'd you leave the rolly?