Top 9 RSA Conference 2019 Sessions You Can’t Miss

RSA Conference USA 2019 is taking place next month, and the lineup looks incredible. The only trouble is that there are so many thought leaders and experts that it’s hard to choose which sessions to attend. We’ve helped you out by doing the legwork for you. Here are the top 10 most interesting sessions for cybersecurity professionals at RSAC 2019.

1. SANS: Lethal Threat Hunting and Incident Response Techniques

Sunday, Mar 03 | 09:00 A.M. – 05:00 P.M.

Monday, Mar 04 | 09:00 A.M. – 05:00 P.M.

Speaker: TBA

Threat hunting is considered one of the most important techniques that CISOs and security team members should possess. This session focuses on identifying new malware indicators and patterns of hacker activity that are the clue to cyber attacks on your ecosystem. Seize this opportunity to learn the latest techniques and adversary behaviors so that you can draw on them when threat hunting in your ecosystem.

2. Future-Proof Cybersecurity Strategy

Tuesday, Mar 05 | 11:00 A.M. – 11:50 A.M.

Speaker: Timothy Lee

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn about the most important fundamentals to creating a future-proof cybersecurity strategy from one of the leading experts in the field. Timothy Lee is the CISO of the City of Los Angeles, and he’ll be sharing real-life examples to help CISOs understand the benefits and challenges of different rapidly-evolving cybersecurity tools. Join his session to access practical guidance about what to keep and what to discard when future-proofing your organization’s cybersecurity strategy.

3. Top 10 Ways to Make Hackers Excited: About the Shortcuts Not Worth Taking

Tuesday, Mar 05 | 11:00 A.M. – 11:50 A.M.

Speaker: Paula Januszkiewicz

Keynote speaker Paula Januszkiewicz is always worth hearing, and this session is no exception. Security analysts, CISOs, and marketing experts all need to learn about the enticing shortcuts that open up dangerous loopholes for hackers to exploit. Paula draws on her extensive experience to share real-life mistakes that were made and loopholes that were eliminated by her customers so that you can learn what not to do.

4. ATT&CK in Practice: A Primer to Improve Your Cyber-Defense

Tuesday, Mar 05 | 01:00 P.M. – 01:50 P.M.

Speakers: Freddy Dezeure and Richard Struse

A full and deep understanding of the MITRE ATT&CK framework is increasingly important in the cybersecurity world. Cyber risk and cyber threat intelligence experts Freddy Dezeure and Richard Struse share their experience so that all cybersecurity professionals can maximize the impact and scope of ATT&CK. Join this session to understand the ATT&CK framework, gain practical insights into identifying ATT&CK use cases, and learn how to use the tools and systems to hand to convert ATT&CK into practice.

5. The Rise of the Machines, AI- and ML-Based Attacks Demonstrated

Tuesday, Mar 05 | 01:00 P.M. – 01:50 P.M.

Speakers: Etienne Greef, Wicus Ross

AI and ML are potentially powerful tools for both hackers and cybersecurity professionals, making this a don’t-miss session for CISOs and cybersecurity team leaders. Discover practical examples of the offensive use of AI and ML, and learn how to wield them yourself to map a network and classify thousands of emails. You’ll also gain a deeper understanding of the impact of AI on the threat landscape, and ways that both ML and AI could be exploited for powerful feature-based attacks.

6. Supply Chain Security for Critical Energy Infrastructure

Wednesday, Mar 06 | 08:00 A.M. – 08:50 A.M.

Speakers: Sharla Artz, Tom Alrich, Art Conklin, Marcus Sachs

If you’re involved in applying cybersecurity to any link in the energy infrastructure, you should attend this session. Four expert panelists who are cybersecurity professionals in the energy sector share their challenges, techniques, and successes in securing the CEI supply chain. You’ll leave this session with a new perspective on the role of contract language in supply chain security, different approaches to assure vendor security, and new insights into addressing CEI supply chain security.

7. Honeypot Predators: Hunter vs. Prey

Wednesday, Mar 06 | 09:20 A.M. – 10:10 A.M.

Speaker: Aamir Lakhani

Learn practical insights, tools, techniques, and procedures for gathering deep intelligence into threats and attackers. Cybersecurity expert Aamir Lakhani shares his experience and knowledge of how attacks occur, as well as his own successes in stopping hackers by turning their own techniques against them. You’ll come away with useful, actionable information on setting up honeypots, open proxies, and servers that attract attackers so that you can study their behaviors and harvest new malware.

8. Business Email Compromise: Operation Wire Wire and New Attack Vectors

Thursday, Mar 07 | 08:00 A.M. – 08:50 A.M.

Speaker: Anne Connell

Discover the inside story about ‘Operation Wire Wire’ from cybersecurity and compliance management expert Anne Connell. We highly recommend this session for cybersecurity professionals who want to learn more about new attack vectors and ways to identify BED targets and gather information from them. You’ll also walk away with deep insights into defending your organization against new BEC attack vectors and stop the wire transfer.

9. Anatomy of Phishing Campaigns: A Gmail Perspective

Thursday, Mar 07 | 09:20 A.M. – 10:10 A.M.

Speakers: Ali Zand, Nicholas Lidzborski

Our final recommendation for RSAC 2019 is this session on the various phishing techniques that are utilized by phishers. Two of Google’s leading software engineers share their perspective on phishing attacks through Gmail, using real-life examples of previous phishing campaigns. You’ll understand how phishing campaigns work to win over users, how phishers adapt to new defenses, and Google’s methods for protecting Gmail users from these attacks.