Feds Skipping Infosec Industry's Biggest Conference This Year (theregister.com) 93
An anonymous reader shares a report: The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency won't attend the annual RSA Conference in March, an agency spokesperson confirmed to The Register. Sessions involving speakers from the FBI and National Security Agency (NSA) have also disappeared from the agenda.
"Since the beginning of this administration, CISA has made significant progress in returning to our statutory, core mission and focusing on President Trump's policies for maximum security for all Americans," CISA spokesperson Marci McCarthy told us. "CISA has reviewed and determined that we will not participate in the RSA Conference since we regularly review all stakeholder engagements, to ensure maximum impact and good stewardship of taxpayer dollars."
McCarthy declined to comment on whether the decision had anything to do with former CISA director Jen Easterly being named chief executive of RSAC last week. Easterly, who was appointed to lead America's top cyber-defense agency under the Biden administration, joined her predecessor and CISA's first-ever director Chris Krebs in President Trump's line of fire back in July.
"Since the beginning of this administration, CISA has made significant progress in returning to our statutory, core mission and focusing on President Trump's policies for maximum security for all Americans," CISA spokesperson Marci McCarthy told us. "CISA has reviewed and determined that we will not participate in the RSA Conference since we regularly review all stakeholder engagements, to ensure maximum impact and good stewardship of taxpayer dollars."
McCarthy declined to comment on whether the decision had anything to do with former CISA director Jen Easterly being named chief executive of RSAC last week. Easterly, who was appointed to lead America's top cyber-defense agency under the Biden administration, joined her predecessor and CISA's first-ever director Chris Krebs in President Trump's line of fire back in July.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
You must be really fun at conventions.
Re: (Score:3)
Found the guy who never gets invited anywhere :D
Petty (Score:5, Insightful)
More than likely it is. So far this admin has made a point to hate on anything a democrat administration has done regardless if it was good for the country or not.
Re:Petty (Score:5, Insightful)
They're probably also trying to avoid getting laughed at.
attendance (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:attendance (Score:5, Informative)
It is a security conference, not a cryptography one. That is just one possible topic.
Re: (Score:2)
Whether or not anyone here believes in quantum computers, the US administration certainly does. That money is going into liberal universities and foreign companies, not Tr
Re: (Score:2)
It's just a vendor trade show. Has very little to do with cryptography these days.
Re: (Score:2)
Has very little to do with cryptography these days.
Every year there is "The Cryptographers' Panel" keynote session. And there are a number of other sessions related. But you are correct, cryptography itself is no longer a focus (now it is about the larger cyber security industry).
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's just a giant trade show, but it's also the trade show that absolutely everybody who's anybody in the industry attends, not just vendors but security experts and researchers. For the current USG to skip it is typical of their cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face behaviour.
Last year a couple of the previous regular USG groups that typically had booths and and some speakers did not attend at the last minute. This year I see neither the FBI, nor NSA, nor CISA with booths, and, as reported, a number of speakers are no longer on the agenda. It will be interesting to see if Feds still have various attendees.
Bunker Mentality (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Bunker Mentality (Score:5, Insightful)
So they are afraid to engage with the knowledgeable public.
They don't acknowledge that experts have expertise. They don't believe anything exists that cannot be seen by the naked eye. They don't accept that anything can be true with is not common sense.
The US medical system is devolving into witchcraft, so why wouldn't this administration shun RSA? Just get NordVPN and you'll be safe from all those brown-skinned trans-cyberian-orchestrators in enemy nation-states such as Canada, Themiddleeast, California and Norway (who won't set a Noblepiece Price to sell Greenland's rare-earth-AI datacenters).
They don't understand how ignorant they are.
Re:Bunker Mentality (Score:4, Insightful)
They don't believe anything exists that cannot be seen by the naked eye.
Unless it concerns them lying and/or behaving badly, like with ICE or DOGE "accounting", then they say people shouldn't believe what they've clearly seen.
Re: (Score:2)
Believe only what you're told to believe. Your eyes have been compromised. By... um... the... Jews?
Re: (Score:2)
Believe only what you're told to believe. Your eyes have been compromised. By... um... the... Jews?
Warning: Don't look into the space laser with remaining good eye. :-)
Re: (Score:2)
JEWS IN SPACE!
Re: (Score:2)
Something about not being able to see vampires in space due to all major space telescopes using mirrors.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Good point.
Re: (Score:1)
They don't acknowledge that experts have expertise. They don't believe anything exists that cannot be seen by the naked eye. They don't accept that anything can be true with is not common sense.
And they're pretty dubious about common sense, too, for that matter.
Re: (Score:3)
Common sense from the perspective of their world view, which is poorly informed.
Essential Travel Only (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Way to stay up to date in the industry, guys.
Focused on what now? (Score:5, Insightful)
focusing on President Trump's policies for maximum security for all Americans
I'm sure for most participants, attending the conference is about staying current on the latest technology and proceedings. For the others, some will be attending for business networking, others for job hunting, but most experts go to the conferences to stay current on the latest things they may have missed.
The most likely reasoning here is petty: "I don't want anybody supporting someone who isn't fully loyal to the brand". It sure smells that way from the announcement and news articles. It isn't about "security for all Americans", but about Party Loyalty (tm), to the point of hatred and snubbing of anything that isn't part of the Party.
The most generous telling I can imagine is that the agency is focusing on the "statutory, core mission" part of the quote, and the "stewardship of taxpayer dollars" means "participants will have to pay for their own tickets". I don't think this is likely, but if I try hard, and I mean *really hard* to think of a way to twist the words that aren't about Party Loyalty, that's the only way I can twist and contort it to make it look like anything else.
I'm sure many professionals will still go to the conference, have already registered, and purchased their plane tickets and hotel room months ago. The question will be what happens after. Based on the past year, I'd wager Party Loyalists will give the long knife treatment to professionals who are doing their job at actual security, but we'll know in a few weeks.
Re:Focused on what now? (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, this. I was not aware that "focusing on President Trump's policies" was part of their "statutory, core mission."
Re:Focused on what now? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is the insanity that keeps frusturating me about how some of these administrations are being run.
You've got Attorney generals and DOJ heads constantly stressing that they see their job as to executute trumps agenda, and it just fucking isn't. An Attorney Generals job is to uphold the law. The DOJs job is to uphold the law. None of it is to be a team player with the president. After all, if one the president men commits a crime on trumps orders, how can we be sure the DOJ will arrest them for committing the crime? Apparently the DOJ is now VERY CLEAR that this is not how it works anymore.
When sane governance returns to washington, whoever is next really owes america a push to properly legislate the independence of the public service, like adult countries do. Because this is bullshit. No more political appointments. No more political judges. No more overriding the judicial and legislative branches. All that shit needs to burn down. and be replaced by something impartial and independent.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Yes , that is normal. Ministers are part of the executive branch, not the public service, they are there to implement policy, not micromanage staffing. The problem isn't Cabinets. The problem is political appointments below the cabinets.
just embarrassment (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:just embarrassment (Score:4, Informative)
I thought it might be about the whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard which is so sensitive, even describing what is alleged could lead to "grave damage to national security" [independent.co.uk].
Re: (Score:2)
I thought it might be about the whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard which is so sensitive, even describing what is alleged could lead to
I can see tomorrows headlines today:
"Gabbard flees to Moscow!"
Re: (Score:2)
“At least six career staff were placed on leave after DHS opened an investigation into whether they misled the agency’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, into taking the test.”
Doesn't pass the smell test (Score:5, Insightful)
"to ensure maximum impact and good stewardship of taxpayer dollars"
White house ball room *mic drop*
Re: Doesn't pass the smell test (Score:3)
So you think that the companies who are paying cash to Trump are just part of the âoegood stewardshipâ part?
Re: (Score:2)
I might be ok if the ballroom went with NASCAR sponsorship rules. The exterior is plastered with sponsor billboards.
The Walmart/Apple/Oracle/Blackstone/Coinbase/Amazon Ballroom.
Re:Doesn't pass the smell test (Score:5, Insightful)
Lets ignore for a moment the fact that privately funding an addition to the White House invites all kinds of inappropriate opportunity for the sort of quid pro quo one would generally want to presumably not have ones government engaged in ...
The ballroom triples the square footage. Hosting gets more expensive, maintenance gets more expensive, heating gets, cleaning gets more expensive. Building a thing is not the only cost associated with that thing.
Re: (Score:2)
Free as in yacht
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
I wish the taxpayers had paid more for your education. Then just maybe you'd have learned how to spell "paid" and learned how to think critically.
Just political bulshit (Score:3, Insightful)
And this utterly incompetent administration doing more stupid things.
Re: (Score:2)
True dat.
Oh, they will be there (Score:3, Interesting)
You just won't see them. They are called spooks for a reason.
Re: (Score:3)
All the spooks are wearing body armor, carrying AR15s, and arresting five-year-old brown kids.
No time for conferences (Score:1)
[...] masked security units roam cities under a hardline government, detaining migrants and dissidents. Journalists describe creeping authoritarianism, weak institutions, and politicised policing. Human rights groups warn of extrajudicial abuses, impunity, and democratic backsliding, as courts struggle to check executive power amid poverty and regional instability.
The leadership is a bit preoccupied.
Re: (Score:3)
We are in a day and age where this statement "...focusing on President Trump's policies for maximum security for all Americans," feels like it could be easily replaced with "focusing on President Trump's policies for maximum security prison for all Americans," Or at least subliminally the same.
Re: (Score:2)
[...] masked security units roam cities under a hardline government, detaining migrants and dissidents. Journalists describe creeping authoritarianism, weak institutions, and politicised policing. Human rights groups warn of extrajudicial abuses, impunity, and democratic backsliding, as courts struggle to check executive power amid poverty and regional instability.
Imagine if the same situation was taking place somewhere in Central America, or some African nation. How would US journalists describe it...
Horrible lies reveal more than they think (Score:2)
" since we regularly review all stakeholder engagements, to ensure maximum impact and good stewardship of taxpayer dollars."
Translations:
"we look at everything already and are too broke to go".
Which by the way is untrue, they have the money to go and it is worth it if only to see what the competition is willing to show other people.
After all, you can still attend without putting on a big show yourself.
The real reason is probably: We don't like the people and do not actually care about doing our job.
Tax Payer Dollars (Score:1)
Maximum security (Score:3)
We going to forget about Hegseth texting classified information to a journalist? https://www.pbs.org/newshour/w... [pbs.org]
Re: (Score:3)
Long forgotten. Oh look, Greenland!
So ... RSA, huh? (Score:3)
Is RSA even a serious security conference, other than to market the latest tools and gee-gaws to willing suckers? Despite the obvious tone of skepticism/sarcasm, this is a serious question from me, not a troll. I just didn't think RSA was much of a magnet for serious-minded security researchers, policy wonks, activists, and the like. I thought folks went to Black Hat and DefCon for that sort of thing, while RSA was pretty much just the security-focused version of Dreamforce or Oracle OpenWorld.
Re:RSA is for funsies (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Hey, he is way smarter than you. Don't argue.
Also, for the record, his concept of a "hot girl" may not agree with anybody else's definition.
Re: RSA is for funsies (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re:RSA is for funsies (Score:4, Informative)
That's the same guy who complained that even though he was the leading computer expert in his IT department for some reason they were wasting his amazing talents by relegating him to backup tape duty. He's almost certainly never learned anything at a conference because he's incapable of learning.
Trump's policies for maximum security? (Score:3)
The policies of The Three Stooges would probably be better.
Security through obscurity (Score:2)
Does not usually yield good results.
Secession hurts (Score:5, Insightful)
I am in security since the '90es. The first ever paper that my boss told me to read was Ross Anderson's "Why Cryptosystems Fail", from 1993. This stated that security fails because of cooperation errors and human mistakes, not because technology.
Security needs community to share their experience. Tools and methods both for attack and defense. What works, what did not. Failures are not laughing matter but useful experience that someone else had and that you can now learn from, for free.
CISA and US feds in general are there to signal that they are part of the community. They build trust and build networks like every other agency or enterprise does. Now they go into secession to "save dollars". Guess who will lose from this - the community, or the feds?
compare these two directors of CISA (Score:2)
Compare the careers of these two directors of CISA
present director:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
previous director:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
This one did this:
https://interestingengineering... [interestin...eering.com]
There is good reason to not let him go to a security conference if he doesn't understand what ChatGPT does with a conversation.
Note that CISA subjected their own director to a lie detector test and he failed, so they got rid of the employees.
President Trump's policies for maximum security (Score:3)
President Trump's policies for maximum security.
Must be why they are adding GrokAI to the Pentagon network. This way the Russians can just generate prompts whenever they want some data. With security features like this there is no need to hack in anymore. No hacking = better security.
The FBI doesn't have anyone to spare (Score:2)
It is all hands on deck sorting through the "client list" working on justice for the more than 1200 Epstein victims... ah sorry I meant arresting journalists.
Yeah, right (Score:2)
"Since the beginning of this administration, CISA has made significant progress in returning to our statutory, core mission and focusing on President Trump's policies for maximum security for all Americans,"
That is, Americans are defined as only those who adore the Idiot. The rest of us, he'll see if he can scam before the foreign scammers scam us.