David Rowe, CISSP, member of the Infosecurity Europe Advisory Council and Head of Business Services for Reed Exhibitions – the organisers of the Infosecurity Europe Show, which will be held this April in London – explains why the latest survey results from McAfee and Xerox, makes this event a must-attend entry in any financial security professional’s diary…

The organisers of Infosecurity Europe – commenting on the results of a joint survey by McAfee and Xerox, and which found more than half of staff either do not follow or are unaware of security policies – says this highlights the need for better education in the IT security space.

According to David Rowe, CISSP, member of the Infosecurity Europe Advisory Council and Head of Business Services for Reed Exhibitions – the organisers of the show which is held 24-26 April in London – the results of this survey are extremely concerning.

“Although surprised at the survey reporting 33 per cent of staff don’t always follow their firm’s IT security policies, I found it more concerning that a further 21 per cent that are blissfully unaware of such policies”.

“That totals out at a significant 54 per cent of staff causing the IT security manager and his team a major headache, so what is the solution? Better education of course is one solution, but in today’s IT-pervasive business environment that in itself such isn’t sufficient. I’d suggest our first challenge is to get staff `on side’ as to the reasons why IT security technology is necessary and how it benefits both the business and individual,” he said.

“This is stakeholder buy-in at its most basic and introduces simple management psychology to the security mix. The days are long gone when a carrot and stick approach was the way to get staff to follow specific procedures when carrying out their duties – today’s IT security requires a teamwork approach,” he added.

The Infosecurity Europe professional went on to say that – with 39 per cent of employees surveyed worrying about the security of the information on their network, the need for stakeholder buy-in as to the whys and wherefores of IT security policies has never been stronger.

And this, he explained, is why Infosecurity Europe – which is now just nine weeks away – continues to invest heavily in a free IT security education programme that is unrivalled in the industry, allowing analysts, vendors  and other security professionals to discuss – and impart – the latest technologies and trends with the management professionals that attend the three-day show.

The idea behind the education programme – which spans multiple theatres and streams at the show – he says, is to arm the security managers and their teams who attend the annual show with sufficient knowledge to allow them to pass on this critical knowledge when they return to their offices and workplaces.

Infosecurity Europe, he adds, has established a reputation for offering the most effective – and free – IT security education programme in the industry.

The content of the education programme is drawn up each year based on research from previous year’s shows and the 2012 programme is unrivalled in the depth and breadth of topics that it covers.

The 2012 Keynote Theatre agenda, for example, will cover the key challenges facing our industry, including the triumvirate of security governance, risk and compliance, together with how to tackle the rising levels of IT consumerisation in the workplace, and the ongoing headache of defending against the problems caused by rogue employees.

Coupled with detailing your best security options and practices for the cloud, this year’s Infosecurity Europe programme will see senior officials from the European Commission covering what promises to be this year’s key topic: the changing landscape of data protection legislation.

Joining Neelie Kroes, vice president of the EC and the Commission’s digital agenda commissioner, will be senior officials from BNP Paribas, LG Electronics and Steria UK, who will be discussing a variety of governance topics.

Rowe says that one seminar that is certain to be standing room only will be the `AET & APT: is it really the next generation of attack’, which will see a panel of experts – including Jon Donaldson, Head Of Security Operations & Compliance with Visa Europe – discussing this vital security topic.

“Other issues that will be discussed on this year’s Keynote Theatre agenda are `The insider threat – how much can you really trust your workforce’ and `Cloud-based solutions – do you really know what you have signed up to?’, with this latter session featuring the CIO of Suffolk County Council,” he said.

“The unrivalled education programme we have at this year’s Infosecurity Europe show will help IT security professionals and their colleagues who attend the show get the message across to their peers and employees of the very real security threats that they face in their day-to-day use of IT systems,” he added.

“This is how we can help those professionals – and their organisations – achieve the levels of stakeholder buy-in to IT security that this report shows is so badly need in UK businesses.”

Infosecurity Europe runs from the 24th – 26th April 2012, in Earls Court, London.  To register free or for further information please visit www.infosec.co.uk  -we look forward to you joining us for what promises to be an informative and educational event!

For more information on the show: http://www.infosec.co.uk

About the show:
Infosecurity Europe, celebrating 17 years at the heart of the industry in 2012, is Europe’s number one Information Security event.  Featuring over 300 exhibitors, the most diverse range of new products and services, an unrivalled education programme and visitors from every segment of the industry, it is the most important date in the calendar for Information Security professionals across Europe.

Organised by Reed Exhibitions, the world’s largest tradeshow organiser, Infosecurity Europe is one of four Infosecurity events around the world with events also running in Belgium, Netherlands and Russia.