RSA Conference puts security in the spotlight

Security is likely to dominate the headlines this week, with the RSA Conference 2007 taking place in San Francisco.

The show runs from Tuesday to Friday, and boasts an impressive roster of top tech execs. Microsoft's Bill Gates and Craig Mundie, Joe Tucci of EMC, Oracle's Larry Ellison and John Thomson of Symantec will all deliver keynotes, as will General Colin Powell. A key conference issue will be the rising threat of cybercrime and ID theft, while experts will discuss the latest developments in encryption and cryptography.

There should also be some exciting clashes between Microsoft and the security industry over Vista.

Tuesday is also Safer Internet Day. Child safety online is an important issue for the ISP industry, which faces the threat of tighter regulation if it fails to address the problem. We're expecting that a new initiative to improve safety awareness among young people could be launched this week. Also on Tuesday, O2 is set to give us a sneak preview of its plans for 3GSM and outlines some of the top firms to watch in the UK mobile industry.

Closer to home, the UK communications professionals will gather in London on Wednesday and Thursday for the annual CMA (Communications Management Association) conference. Ofcom's chairman Lord Currie is due to embrace the conference with a Wednesday lunchtime keynote, and issues such as fixed-mobile convergence and next-generation telecoms networks will also come under scrutiny.

Google is inviting the technology press into its Victoria Googleplex on Thursday morning to explain its strategy for the business market. The search giant updated its Mini search appliance last week and may be planning a renewed focus on the corporate and SME sectors.

Looking at the financial markets, BT's latest results are due out on Thursday morning. Typically, these occasions see BT hailing its growth in New Wave (broadband and mobility) markets, while analysts fret about continued erosion to its core voice revenues. Hopefully BT will also update us on the progress of its 21st Century Network.

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