Security Summit to feature security gurus

Internationally-renowned technologist and author Bruce Schneier, and creator of the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) e-mail encryption protocol, Phil Zimmermann, will deliver keynote addresses at the ITWeb Security Summit, on at Vodaworld from 23 - 24 May.

Following the success of the inaugural ITWeb Security Summit last year, the 2007 event promises an even more impressive line-up of security experts, analysts, practitioners and industry leaders.

Described by The Economist as a "security guru", Schneier is best known as a security critic and commentator. In addition to his position as CTO for BT Counterpane Internet Security, Bruce Schneier is the author of eight books - including the best sellers "Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World", "Secrets and Lies", and "Applied Cryptography" - as well as the Blowfish and Twofish encryption algorithms.

Schneier's presentation, entitled "The Economics of Information Security: Ten trends you should know about," addresses the hot and rapidly growing field of research focusing on economics and computer security. Do we spend enough on keeping hackers out of our computer systems? Do we spend too much? Are we spending our security budgets on the right things? These are some of the questions that Schneier will address.

Zimmerman, better known by security stalwarts as Mr PGP - will focus on secure voice over IP (VOIP) communications in his keynote talk, "From PGP to solving VOIP security".

Zimmermann will also provide details about his latest project, Zfone, a prototype program that he has been developing for encrypting VOIP. He will explain the origins of his ideas and how his VOIP encryption protocol (ZRTP) achieves security, without reliance on a public key infrastructure, key certification, trust models, certificate authorities, or key management complexity that bedevils the e-mail encryption world.

"The top priority for business in 2007 will undoubtedly be data privacy and identity management," says Jovan Regasek, CEO of ITWeb. "While addressing all the components that make the enterprise security framework, the main focus of the ITWeb Security Summit this year will be on understanding the nature of the threat to business, managing the business risk and ensuring appropriate governance is in place to protect information - the most valuable asset of any organisation - and privacy."

ITWeb ran its first Security Summit in March last year, when the keynote was delivered by former hacker turned security expert Kevin Mitnick. At the 2007 Security Summit, Schneier and Zimmermann will be joined by close to 30 local and international security experts and practitioners.

Regasek adds: "We are thrilled to be able to bring this level of international expertise to South Africa for the first time. When people want to know how security really works, they turn to Schneier and when it comes to secure data and voice communications, who better than Mr PGP himself."

With more than 30 presentations, several panel discussions and practical workshops, delegates will gain first-hand insight into the latest technology and tools, strategy and best practices, to successfully implement and manage the right level of IT security for their organisations.