What you missed at RSA Conference 2024: Key trends and takeaways

Here are the highlights that practitioners and leaders should know if they skipped last week's RSAC, the mother of all cybersecurity shows.

Carolynn van Arsdale, Writer, ReversingLabs.

The 32nd annual RSA Conference — one of the biggest cybersecurity shows in North America — was held at San Francisco's Moscone Center last week. The event was jam-packed with hundreds of vendors, scores of speaking sessions, and lots of swag.

More important than the swag were key updates on government policies, guidelines, and frameworks, as well as new discoveries concerning threat actors and advice for security leaders as they lay their plans for 2024 and beyond. Here are the major updates that matter, on topics ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) to software supply chain security (SSCS).

Join RL for a live discussion with two top cybersecurity experts (and RSAC 2024 speakers) on Wednesday, May 22 at 12pm ET. Speakers include Devici's Chris Romeo and BlackGirlsHack's Tennisha Martin, who will share their top takeaways from this year’s big show — and answer your questions.

Cybersecurity obsesses over AI

It's no surprise that AI and the impact that generative AI tooling has on various areas within cybersecurity were major topics at this year's RSAC. To date, talk about GenAI has been balanced between worries and potential benefits. Practitioners are concerned that threat actors could abuse this technology effectively, but they also have high hopes for how AI can assist threat hunters and security teams in their efforts. This dichotomy held true at RSAC 2024.

For example, IBM and Amazon Web Services (AWS) found in a poll they conducted on the current state of GenAI security that 82% of C-suite respondents said that “secure and trustworthy AI is essential to the success of their business" but that only 24% are actually securing their GenAI initiatives. Equally concerning: IBM found that nearly 70% of respondents believe that, when it comes to AI, innovation takes precedence over security.

The IBM/AWS survey paints an alarming picture: While the use of GenAI for business goals is generally popular, securing these programs is just an afterthought for senior executives.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas expressed concern for the current state of AI in his keynote at the show. Mayorkas that DHS is particularly focused on how AI can be implemented in ways that protect not only the privacy and safety of Americans, but also the country’s critical infrastructure. He said he is hopeful about the DHS’s newly established , which aims to balance AI’s benefits with risks related to critical infrastructure.