Security B-Sides Announces 2011 Speaker Line-Up And Participants For B-Sides San Francisco Event

PRESS RELEASE

Security B-Sides, a cultish and highly successful community-driven event built for and by information security community members, today announced the 2011 event details and speaker lineup for B-Sides San Francisco, being held February 14-15, 2011 at Zeum (San Francisco's Children's Museum) from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. PT. The group that started with one event in 2009 has exploded into more than 20 events globally including Ottawa, Berlin, and London. B-Sides San Francisco 2011 will include 28 talks, 40 presenters, and several interesting panels ranging from legal debates to cyber-security awareness. To view the full schedule of B-Sides San Francisco events, visit: http://www.securitybsides.org/BSidesSF.

"The demand was so high for attendees of Security B-Sides San Francisco that we had to close the registration at 400 people and the waiting list gets longer every day," said Mike Dahn, Founder of Security B-Sides. "The first year we saw 10x growth in the number of events, and the second year is showing a global explosion of interest with participants planning B-Sides events in Vancouver, Vienna, New Delhi, Hong Kong and Australia."

This year, some of the most widely anticipated talks at B-Sides San Francisco include:

* "Who Needs the NSA When We Have Social Media" by Aaron Barr * "Attacking Cyber Security Marketecture" panel by Andrew Hay, Richard Bejtlich, Travis Reese and Amit Yoran * "When CSOs Attack" by HD Moore * "Reverse Engineering Using the Android Emulator" by Scott Dunlop * "Cloud Security Realities" by David Mortman * "Selling Security Without Selling Your Soul" by Aaron Cohen * "Lessons Learned From Running a Bug Bounty Program" by Daniel Peck

"IT security is one industry where a single voice can really make a difference," says Tim Wilson, editor of Dark Reading, one of the Web's most widely-read security news sites, and media sponsor for B-Sides San Francisco. "I can't tell you how many big stories we've gotten from a single researcher who had something important to say. Security B-Sides is becoming an important event for us to cover because it offers a forum for security experts who might not otherwise have been heard."

The goal of Security B-Sides is to foster communication and collaboration while increasing the level of conversation. It provides a solid framework for similar conferences to be organized and hosted locally and worldwide. In the last year alone, B-Sides events were hosted in 10 new cities including Berlin, Ottawa, Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Dallas, and San Francisco.

Because the events offer smaller, more intimate networking atmospheres and breakout discussions, they foster strong audience participation and overall group interaction. For those that are not able to attend B-Sides events, online streaming of the conferences is available.

"Security B-Sides is what security cons SHOULD be -- non-pretentious, enlightening, and community-driven," said Dave Shackleford, consultant and frequent presenter at infosec conferences.

Added Pete Hillier, CISO and Co-Organizer of B-Sides Ottawa, "It was an outstanding show. The collaboration was palpable; people engaged more than any other conference I've attended and I guarantee there will be a repeat next year."

B-Sides is continuing its rapid growth and has plans to host upcoming international events in London; Vancouver, Canada; Helsinki, Finland; Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada); and New Delhi, India. The U.S.-based events are planned for Austin, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Chicago, IL; Greensboro, NC; Memphis, TN; Los Angeles, CA; Rochester, NY; Seattle, WA; Miami, FL; Detroit, MI; and Charleston, SC.

This year's sponsors for B-Sides San Francisco include TripWire, Trustwave SpiderLabs, Astaro, Netwitness, Alienvault, Qualys, Fortinet, Dark Reading, Barracuda Networks, Rapid7, VerSprite, Novell, SenSage, Merritt Group, Q1 Labs, and RowFeeder. Currently, B-Sides Austin is looking for sponsors to get involved. For more information on how to sponsor, please visit: http://www.securitybsides.org/

Added Dahn, "The success of Security B-Sides events is due entirely to the participants, sponsors, and organizers that put in the time necessary to create a unique experience for all."

About Security B-Sides Launched in mid-2009, Security B-Sides is a community-driven framework for building events for and by information security community members. The goal is to expand the spectrum of conversation beyond the traditional confines of space and time. It creates opportunities for individuals to both present and participate in an intimate atmosphere that encourages collaboration. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from participants. It is where conversations for the next-big-thing are happening. For more information, follow us on Twitter or visit our website: http://www.securitybsides.org/