CALIFORNIA RSA CONFERENCE 2006; BOOM TIMES FOR SECURITY RSA confab: Boom times for security: ZDNet Australia: News: Security

The security industry converges at the annual RSA Conference in San Francisco this week, an event that's moved far beyond its origins as a get-together for cryptogeeks and other insiders.

Though still organised by RSA Security, a company with its roots in cryptography, the confab has developed into a showcase for security companies and an annual gathering for IT professionals. This year is the 15th anniversary of the event.

"There has been significant growth," said Ray Wagner, an analyst with Gartner. "The RSA Conference four, five years ago was much more of a technician conference."

The changing face of the conference mirrors a growth in concern over security in companies large and small. Once just an extra task for an IT manager, a digital breach may now bring legal entanglements for organisations. That's one reason why concern over security has moved into boardrooms.

Driving that increasing concern is a rise in threats such as armies of zombie PCs, higher awareness of data security dangers, and a need to comply with data protection laws.

With security now printed in bold on many corporate agendas, a plethora of new companies have sprouted up to sell products. At RSA, more than 275 exhibitors will show their wares. Product announcements at the show run the gamut and include application security software, e-mail security appliances, antivirus software and encryption technology.

Charles Kolodgy, an analyst at IDC, said: "The security market is as active as I have seen it in a long time. There seems to be something for everyone."

Many of the new vendors who jumped into the market are looking to cash out, often by being acquired by a larger player. Analysts have said that some of the security start-ups deal in features, not products, and essentially exist to be taken over.

And while new players continue to enter the space, takeovers are common. Symantec, in particular, has gobbled up many small security companies. Executives at the Cupertino, California, company said last fall that they plan to make six to eight acquisitions per year, with a major deal -- such as Symantec's buy of Veritas Software -- about every 18 months.

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