ASIS International 2011 : 57th Annual Seminar & Exhibits

In her keynote address at ASIS 2012 in Philadelphia, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano called on security product manufacturers and security system integrators to partner with the federal government to fight cyber-security threats. Napolitano told the crowd that in 2011, the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) responded to 106,000 reports of cyber-security breaches, and the Norton Cybersecurity Institute estimates the study of cyber-crimes will cost $114 billion worldwide; a number Napolitano called “conservative.”

(ISC)2 World Congress 2012 and ASIS International 2012 -- End user awareness programs often fail to teach users much about security, and they frequently don't do much to improve enterprise security, experts said this week. In a new survey on security training, Trustwave found that while 56 percent of security professionals claim they train new users during orientation, only 32 percent of employees say they have been educated on enterprise security.

ASIS 2012 has attracted diverse elements of the market to this year's event in Philadelphia. I have spoken to the risk and security consulting community, integrators, and product technology vendors as well as Private Equity and venture capitalists. The end users I have spoken with come from government, retail, healthcare, bio-tech and telecom, and from our discussions, we are in a transitional state of the security industry.

Addressing complicated global security issues like peace in the Middle East and a non-nuclear Iran depends on addressing the root causes of problems there and not the symptoms of strife, said the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a prominent political figure in the 2011 Egyptian revolution. In a keynote speech here at ASIS 2012 on Sept. 11, Mohamed El Baradei told attendees that root causes of violence and terror, like political suppression and economic inequity, have to be addressed before those problems can really be resolved.

When DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano received the 2012 CSO Roundtable’s “Leadership and Security Award” and addressed a luncheon crowd at the ASIS show in Philadelphia on September 10, the not-so-subtle message she seemed to deliver was this: I’m telling you the cyber-threat is real, so start spending the cold, hard cash that is necessary to protect your company’s computer networks now, and don’t come crying to me after the nation is attacked.

Iran, China and budget instabilities present the greatest challenges to the national security of the U.S., said former U.S. secretary of defense Robert Gates at an ASIS 2012 keynote speech here in Philadelphia on Sept. 12.

Day 2 at ASIS 2012 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia started off with a focus on the massive convention center itself. I attended a panel discussion on the center’s recent security upgrade and then a tour to see some of those changes, furnished, installed and coordinated by Schneider Electric. Schneider and convention hall officials led us behind the public areas of the center, pointed out camera positioning and access control, showed us their perimeter control and then let us into the command center for a view of the inner workings. A lot of work goes into securing a 1-million-square-foot building always bustling with thousands of visitors per day.

Among the dozens of people I spoke to on my first day—and first time—at ASIS 2012 were members of the HIS End Users Committee executive committee, who were at the show to recruit new members, and very enthusiastically, I might add.

When the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority decided it needed to expand the 624,00-square-foot Center City venue, it also decided the $700 million expansion plan should include the latest in security systems installed by a design-build contractor. Schneider Electric won the $5.7 million technology/facilitator-package contract to furnish, install and coordinate all systems and equipment for security, A/V and telecom.

(ISC)2 World Congress 2012 and ASIS International 2012 -- A growing shortage in security staffing and skills is creating a seller's market for security professionals -- and could drive new thinking in hiring, experts say. Here at the Career Pavilion at the co-resident annual conferences of two of the world's largest security professionals' associations, job hunters are finding a target-rich environment for workers with advanced skills. The industry will need to add nearly 2 million jobs during the next three years in order to keep up with demand, according to industry figures.

The ASIS international 2012 conference started off this morning with a glance back at the past and optimism for the future as conference goers soak up the latest innovations from industry power players.

The 58th annual edition of ASIS International's Seminars and Exhibits showcase got off to a thoroughly colorful, musical and patriotic official start here Monday in the Terrace Ballroom at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin himself (or a decent living facsimile thereof) emceed the opening ceremony, which was in part a living history lesson celebrating the host city and in part a look forward to the security industry's future. A live soundtrack that included everything from colonial-era dance music to contemporary jazz punctuated all parts along the way.

ASIS International, a worldwide association for security professionals, has selected its 2012 ASIS Accolades award winners, who exhibited their wares at the sprawling ASIS show in Philadelphia earlier this week. Accolades is an awards competition that recognizes the security industry’s most innovative new products, services and solutions, says a news release issued by ASIS.

Whether you are a young careerist looking to strengthen your understanding of industry best practices and expand your professional network or a senior practitioner in a large organization in search of leadership and business skills, you will find a range of timely, compelling education programs to attend at ASIS 2012.

This session examines the controversial social policies, rapid-fire legislation, and influx of law suits that are changing the way employee background checks are done. Employers are experiencing a barrage of new legal requirements and a corresponding uptick in legal claims. Social policy initiatives like the E-RACE, Ban the Box, and the Equal Employment for All Act are changing the way organizations operate.

For the second year in a row, the educational program at the ASIS International Conference will include a special track geared to system integrators. The conference will take place here Sept. 10-13.

For the second year in a row, (ISC)2, an organization for information security professionals, will co-locate its conference with ASIS International next month in Philadelphia. Leaders of both organizations call the collaboration integral to the future of the security profession.

If you are heading to Philadelphia next month, I’m sure you’ll want to partake in the famous Philly cheese steak sandwich at the nearby Reading Terminal, but perhaps you’ll want more? In that case, you will want to know about the integrator tracks and sessions scheduled at the 58th annual ASIS Seminar and Exhibits, September 10-13.

(ISC)2 (“ISC)-squared”), the largest not-for-profit membership body of certified information security professionals and administrators of the CISSP, has released the full education program and speaker line-up for the government track of its second annual Security Congress event, taking place September 10-13, 2012 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA.

ASIS International (ASIS) will honor military and law enforcement professionals during the ASIS International 58th Annual Seminar and Exhibits (ASIS 2012) with Military/Law Enforcement Appreciation Day on Wednesday, Sept. 12. ASIS 2012 will take place in Philadelphia, September 10-13, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, according to a press release.

The security challenges and risks faced by organizations around the world evolve and shift rapidly — as do the emerging solutions. The ASIS International 58th Annual Seminar and Exhibits (ASIS 2012) will give security practitioners the chance to acquire the knowledge, tools and techniques required to protect life, and to mitigate risk to property and information.

Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will serve as a keynote speaker at ASIS 2012. The 58th annual conference will be held Sept. 10-13 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

It feels like I just returned from Orlando and my first ASIS conference, but gears are already turning on this year's event. Eduard Emde, current president of ASIS International, announced today that Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1997 to 2007, will present the keynote address at ASIS' annual conference on Tues., Sept. 11, in Philadelphia.

ASIS International (ASIS) announced that Mohamed ElBaradei, former director general, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (1997-2009), will address attendees of the ASIS International 58th Annual Seminar and Exhibits (ASIS 2012) on Tuesday, September 11 at 8:00 a.m. at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

ASIS International announced in a press release that Robert M. Gates, the 22nd U.S. Secretary of Defense (2006-2011) will be presenting at the ASIS International 58th Annual Seminar & Exhibits (ASIS 2012) in Philadelphia.

I am in Philadelphia this week scoping out the city before the security industry descends on the City of Brotherly Love (and Sisterly Affection) at ASIS International 2012.

Facilities might be able to physically secure an area with hundreds of cameras, the smartest access control systems and some streamlined action plans, but these won't always count on the human factor of impressions that come to play in shaping the public's perception of your building.

On May 1, I visited the Comcast Center in Philadelphia—the first skyscraper completed since 9/11—and was able to learn more about its security program. The visit was part of the ASIS media tour, which I and several other security industry journalists attended.

At 58 stories and 975-feet tall, the Comcast Center is the tallest building between New York City and Chicago. It is also the first skyscraper to be completed since 9/11, construction having been finished in 2007.

When Sherman Hopkins, the security director at the National Constitution Center, welcomes VIPs and dignitaries to the president’s reception in his sprawling facility during the ASIS annual conference in Philadelphia this September, it won’t be the first time he’s had to focus on safeguarding thousands of guests.

The folks organizing the 58th Annual ASIS Seminar and Exhibits in Philadelphia on September 10-13 are offering members of the security trade press a sneak preview this week of some of the main attractions in the ‘City of Brotherly Love,’ as well as the security precautions that are already in place to safeguard some of those tourist sites.