Infosecurity Europe – the largest in the world
It’s official! Infosecurity Europe is now the largest Information security exhibition in the world, with 6172 square metres of stand space (approx 68,500 sq ft) and 282 primary stand holders and over 350 exhibitors (including companies sharing stands). Attendance broke all records with numbers up by 7% with 11,635 visitors compared with 10,874 in 2005 with the knock on effect that the exhibitors were keen to reserve and book their stand space and positions for 2007.
Infosecurity Europe was truly international this year with almost a third of companies exhibiting from overseas with many using it as the gateway into Europe – a large contingent of companies exhibited from North America, South America with the “BRASEC” Brazilian Pavilion, Asia and Australia. Infosecurity also saw great interest from overseas visitors with almost 1000 attending from as far afield as USA, Japan. Israel and across Europe.
The show is renowned for it’s FREE education programme and this year was no exception when it came to getting the big names to present to the jam-packed auditoriums filled with eager faced IT security professionals hungry for the latest hints and tips on how to stop their companies becoming the next big Information security victim!
Gary Mckinnon “dubbed the most profligate hacker of all times” thrilled the crowds in the hacking session making his last public appearance where he was able to talk about his experiences as a hacker – this was prior to his trial which has resulted in the courts allowing his extradition to the US. The Lion’s Den was also a crowd puller where seven innovative vendors bravely faced Europe’s most knowledgeable IS buyers in a head-to-head battle where the products were closely scrutinised – leaving just one company standing – the winner was BeeWare with their product Intelliwall I-Sentry.
The final results of the DTI Information Security Breaches Survey were also revealed at the show with the key finding that Information security was now a very high priority for UK business with 3/4 of senior management or board directors taking the issue of Information security as a chief concern and therefore spending more money than ever before with budgets up by an average or 4-5%.
The atmosphere at the event was better than ever as big business was being done at every corner and on every stand. Claire Sellick Infosecurity Europe’s Event Director said “This year topped the previous decade of Infosecurity shows with the quality of visitors, exhibitors and educational programme. The exit polls showed a great deal of business was done at the show and with the high attendance at IT Director and senior management level the exhibitors were very happy indeed. It was also pleasing to see the large numbers of overseas visitors who had come to the show with a purpose – and every seminar and keynote was packed to the brim which shows that Information security has at long last arrived and is no longer viewed as a one-off fixable business issue!”