RSA Conference 2022 Q&A

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Are you getting ready for the upcoming RSA Conference, the world's leading information security conference and exposition?

The event is quickly approaching, taking place June 6-9, 2022, both digitally and yes, physically, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

For four days, you'll gain insights, join conversations and experience solutions that could make a huge impact on your organization and your career.

Ahead of the show, VMblog received an exclusive interview with Shashi Kiran, CMO of Fortanix, the industry’s first and largest provider of Confidential Computing solutions.

Fortanix decouples data security from infrastructure and empowers organizations with centralized controls to secure data spread across clouds, applications, SaaS, databases, and data centers.

VMblog: To kick things off, give VMblog readers a quick overview of the company.

Shashi Kiran: Fortanix is a data-first multi-cloud security company and pioneer of Confidential Computing technology. We are a preferred vendor and partner for those modernizing their data security solutions, moving to the cloud and securing digital infrastructure. We deliver encryption, multi-cloud key management, tokenization, secrets management and a whole lot of data at rest, during motion and in-use across clouds, applications, SaaS, databases, and data centers. In summary, Fortanix delivers security, wherever your data is. We are fortunate to win business from some of the largest banks, financial services, healthcare, government, retail and technology companies globally. We are experiencing high growth in triple digits as a result, and expanding our workforce in North America, EMEA and the Asia Pacific regions. Fortanix investors include Intel Capital, Foundation Capital, Neotribe Ventures, and In-Q-Tel.

VMblog: What is your message to RSA attendees and those individuals who won't be able to make the conference this year?

Kiran: We have some exciting engagements planned at the RSA conference venue, as outlined on this RSA informational page.

https://resources.fortanix.com/rsa-event-june-2022

We will have executives and subject matter experts at hand, and meetings could be booked in advance via the web link above. If data security, privacy and compliance are important, we welcome attendees to drop by for a discovery conversation at booth #5886, North Expo at the Moscone Center. We have a vibrant partner ecosystem who will also be present at RSA, and we will be co-promoting solutions together. For those who are unable to attend the show, we would urge them to visit the Fortanix website. We also encourage your readers to subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

VMblog: What market needs or problems are you addressing in the security space?

Kiran: We are about providing the highest form of data security, regardless of where the data is, or how it is being used. Unlike other vendors that offer platform solutions, or have legacy offerings retrofitted for the cloud era, Fortanix has been purpose built for cloud and SaaS bringing a rich set of offerings around key management, tokenization, HSM-as-a-service, multi-cloud security, secrets management, etc. to name a few. We address the needs of security practitioners, CISOs, risk and compliance officers, cloud architects, developers and DevOps personnel, and data officers. Their worlds are converging and they need a platform that is flexible enough to meet their needs. We are that modern platform.

VMblog: Where/how can attendees find you at the show?

Kiran: We will be Booth #5886, North Expo, during the entire show. Meetings can be booked with us in advance via https://resources.fortanix.com/rsa-event-june-2022.

We are also hosting a panel and reception for qualified attendees and other guests on June 8th featuring speakers from FinCEN, the White House, AMD, Fiverity and Fortanix. Details will be available on the website above. We encourage interested attendees to register early.

VMblog: Is your company launching anything new at the show? Can you give us a sneak peek?

Kiran: In addition to the panel, which we believe will be tremendously educational for government bodies, chip vendors and ISVs, we are also launching the industry's first Web 3.0-era solutions based on Confidential Computing to secure sensitive digital assets and blockchain infrastructure. Stay tuned for details.

VMblog: What will you be showing off at the show this year?

Kiran: We will be showcasing a variety of solutions. If your attendees want to check out a super cool, modern FIPS-140 Level 3 certified Hardware Security Module, they are welcome to come by our booth. Hey, did I mention we are giving away drones?

VMblog: What are some top priorities for security leaders at RSA to consider this year?

Kiran: The world has shifted radically in the last few years. 9/11 was an epochal moment for the United States two decades ago. The pandemic is another such moment, albeit on a global scale. All of these events have impacted how organizations perceive security and risk posture. We've seen regulations and compliance requirements increase. This has led to complicated security stacks and further fragmentation. I believe security leaders are looking to modernize, but also simplify, as they accelerate cloud adoption. Data is everywhere and securing it is vital.

VMblog: What are some of the key takeaways of your solution that RSA conference goers should be aware of? And what sets you apart from the competition?

Kiran: Even as conference goers look at traditional ways of securing infrastructure, securing data whether it is at rest, in motion or in use, is very critical. We're seeing the increasing importance of Confidential Computing with a number of vendors and providers coming together.

The Fortanix team is highly customer obsessed. We are investing in a modern platform that is easy to use and really simplifies how organizations manage their security posture with a number of advanced features. Our architecture and approach are very unique and we have seen that when a new prospect tries Fortanix, we win the deal 9 out of 10 times. It is very compelling. This has led both to the growth, as well as the trust we're getting from even highly regulated bodies.

VMblog: What are some of the security best practices you would deem critical?

Kiran: Running workloads in a secure Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) should become second nature. It allows for entirely new security requirements to be implemented, preventing breaches, viruses, malicious insiders, and hackers. By applying this to cloud infrastructures, businesses can utilize the cloud almost like on-premise resources if they operate everything using Confidential Computing, because no one -- including the cloud providers -- has access to the data or code, removing the need for trust.

External Key Management (EKM) is becoming quite important. We are receiving great traction partnering with Google on this effort, and with other cloud providers also.

With the announcement that we're making on the Web 3.0 areas, we'll look at innovative ways to protect blockchain infrastructure and serve the needs of say deregulated finance industries, neo banks etc.

VMblog: I'm sure the keynotes will discuss big pictures, but what trends are you seeing that we should be aware of in 2022?

Kiran: Even large companies like Facebook, with seemingly infinite resources, automation capabilities and the best of intentions, can still run into challenges posed by the complexities of managing data sprawl and privacy at scale, while navigating fast-changing and myriad regulatory and compliance requirements. We are seeing the issues around privacy, identity, fraud, ransomware - all being linked to how well an organization protects sensitive data.

VMblog: Does your company have any speaking slots at RSA? If so, can you tell us more about those sessions so people can get them on their schedules?

Kiran: We will be hosting and speaking at the panel on "Securing Digital Assets and Fighting Fraud with Confidential Computing". We also expect to participate in a few other events with our partners from Intel, BigID and KeyFactor.

VMblog: Is your company giving away any interesting tchotchke?

Kiran: Yes, stop by for drone drawings at the Fortanix booth. We will also have some other interesting swag, and hard copies of the newest book on Confidential Computing.

VMblog: As a show sponsor, do you have any tips for attendees to better prepare or handle the conference?

Kiran: Seek out companies and themes that help you prepare for the future. Planning your agenda in advance will allow you to prioritize whom you want to spend time with, as the conference itself can be overwhelming and even tiring after a while.