Infosecurity Europe 2015 – 3.6% increase in unique visitor numbers, as 15,614* industry professionals converged at Olympia in London
Event also reports over 80% floor space reserved for 2016
‘Intelligent Security: Protect. Detect. Respond. Recover’
Infosecurity Europe has announced it attracted an increase of 3.6% attendees on 2014, with the release of pre-ABC figures for 2015.
The conference and exhibition saw 15,614 information security professionals attend Olympia, London over three days. A total of 316 companies from 18 different countries, exhibited at Infosecurity Europe this year, of which almost a quarter (24.4%) were new exhibitors. Preparations for Infosecurity Europe 2016, which will take place at Olympia in London on 07-09 June 2016 are now underway, with more than 81.2% exhibition space already reserved for 2016.
Keynotes and educational sessions stepped up to the challenge proposed by the event’s theme – ‘Intelligent Security: Protect. Detect. Respond. Recover’ – delivering actionable, cutting-edge security advice. Experts explained the necessity for a holistic approach to security, offering attendees advice on a range of protection and response methods, from intel-sharing and self-evaluation of infrastructure to software controls and network monitoring. Every attendee of Infosecurity Europe came away with new insight on how to protect their systems and respond to attacks.
The event welcomed a considerable number of international exhibitors, showcasing their products and services in Infosecurity Europe’s Country Pavilions, which focused on the buoyant cybersecurity sectors in the USA, France, Israel, Northern Ireland and Germany. Infosecurity Europe attendees travelled form 76 countries this year and the international speaker line-up included representatives from the UK, USA, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, Norway, France, Finland, Turkey, Israel, Austria, Romania and Italy.
The contribution made to the security industry by small, innovative companies was recognised in the new UK Cyber Innovation Zone supported by The Cyber Growth Partnership, in association with the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills and techUK. The zone was used to showcase 11 small, innovative cyber security companies, who competed in a competition to find the UK’s Most Innovative Small Cyber Security Company of the Year, which was awarded to GeoLang – a data loss prevention firm – following a lively final session on 4 June.
The Keynote Stage saw seminars from industry luminaries and senior figures from end-user organisations and government including Portugal Telecom, Motorola Mobility, Europol, GCHQ, Google, Heathrow Airports, Home Retail Group, National Rail and many more. The high-end conference programme, which is complimentary to attend, offered 188 sessions including keynote presentations, panel discussions, workshops, training courses and products presentations featuring 260 speakers.
Some of the key highlights included:
- The launch of the 2015 Information Security Breaches survey, commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
- A speech from controversial information security pioneer John McAfee at Infosecurity Europe’s 20th anniversary party where he warned: “People need to take control and be responsible on their own – governments can’t protect you.”
- A bold prediction from CTO of Resilient Systems, Bruce Schneier, that the era of cyber warfare is just around the corner: “We need to understand cyber war better. There’s lots of back and forth; countries not attacking each other but companies within countries – which we’ll see more of. Nations are building up for cyber war.”
- An admission from GCHQ’s Director General of Cybersecurity, Ciaran Martin, that cybercrime against UK institutions is now more widespread than the security services ever imagined: “We’ve been genuinely surprised by the extent and variety of UK organizations subject to intrusions. Organizations need to think about what makes them attractive as a target.”
- Tenable Network Security’s Jack Daniel was inducted to the Infosecurity Europe Hall of Fame in a ceremony on 4 June.
Kerry Prince, director of Infosecurity Europe commented: “We are delighted to have welcomed even more attendees to our new home in Olympia. The 20th anniversary edition of the show was a special occasion in many respects. With a programme packed full of experts and thought leaders, as well as a truly global list of exhibitors representing every point in the infosecurity ecosystem we were proud to bring a fast-growing industry together. With four fifths of next year’s exhibition space already reserved, and 2016 planning already well underway we can look forward to the 21st show being the best yet.”
Joseph O’Halloran, publisher of Infosecurity Magazine: “Twenty years is a good birthday to celebrate, and the industry’s premium event certainly lived up to expectations. Along with new products and services, t presented an industry that finds itself at something of a tipping point, with a meta-narrative developing around a so-called ‘logical’ need to re-allocate resources from preventing incidents to dealing with their aftermath. The undoubted star though John McAfee. Whatever your opinion on him he is an industry legend and pioneer and it was great to see him at our event. Also it was a privilege to gain insight from other mainstays such as Jack Daniel. We raised the quality bar this year and look forward to doing better in 2016.”
Rui Melo Biscaia, Director of Product Management, Watchful Software: “Infosecurity Europe provides a thought leadership venue like no other. With over 15,000 security industry professionals from over 70 countries in attendance, we know what a unique experience it is to network at this annual conference. We gained a great deal of brand awareness from our recent attendance and reached over 100 participants during our speaking slot. Infosecurity Europe is invaluable to the security professional.”
