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Ms Brommer, for readers in a hurry: What is it-sa and why should I take part?
it-sa in Nürnberg is one of the world’s most important IT security exhibitions. It clearly focuses on one key theme, namely all security-relevant aspects of information technology. Many legislative requirements also play a role, because data security and data protection are inseparable. With this background, it-sa is obviously a purely B2B event and exactly the right place for anyone professionally concerned with IT security: CIOs, CSOs, responsible project managers, developers, IT administrators, security officers, security consultants, data protection officers and IT forensic experts – in short, managers and specialists from national and international companies, official agencies, the public sector, business, industry and science. We expect the positive trend for it-sa to continue this year and are confident of reaching last year’s record of 322 exhibitors again. In terms of visitors, our sights are firmly set on increasing their number to more than 6,000.

What exactly does an IT security expert “get” from this event?
it-sa has the nature of a working exhibition. This is true of both the exhibition itself and Congress@it-sa, the accompanying congress sessions that extend the it-sa programme for the first time in 2012. The congress topics are “Cloud Computing”, “Mobile Security”, “Bring your own Device”, “Industrial Network Security” and “Computing Centre Security”. Our aim with this congress is to provide even more specialist knowledge for the IT security sector.

it-sa has a larger share of accompanying information opportunities than any other exhibition in our entire portfolio. These include 250 presentations at forums, live demos, Topic Routes, the Convergence Area and the special area for “The Perfect Computing Centre”, including the 5-Star Computing Centre. The Peak IAM Area is again devoted extensively to Identity and Access Management. it-sa can be summarized as the European platform for extensive and in-depth coverage of IT security. It offers a unique opportunity for professional networking among industry experts.

What are the main issues at it-sa 2012?

The main issues in the sector this year are mobile security, IT security of industrial plants, and access and identity management. Mobile security affects almost everyone today – the private smartphone user just as much as companies. Theft and loss of data play a major role. A new challenge is called “Bring your own Device”. More and more employees in companies want to access company data with their own mobile terminals and process the data on their equipment, which is not administered. The security of industrial networks is just as topical: keyword Stuxnet – the digital pest that has manipulated Iranian nuclear plants, for example. Or the harmful software Flame, which has been the subject of warnings from the world’s IT security specialists. This is only the tip of the iceberg covered by the media, however. At least just as important is the question of how companies can protect their data against misuse. Experts confirm that the relevance of this issue is still too low in many places and it is therefore often criminally underestimated. But IT security begins with the question of how can I protect my server room against unauthorized access. it-sa also covers all topics relevant to IT security such as cyber crime, cloud security, hardware security / endpoint security, access control, data protection and data security, Internet and network security, computing centre security, and storage / storage solutions.

What changes have you made since it-sa started?

We are continuously improving the exhibition in cooperation with our honorary sponsors, partners and, of course, the founder of it-sa, SecuMedia-Verlag. Congress@it-sa is a new step towards offering our professional audience considerable added value. We have expanded the forum programme and also improved the special areas and focus topics. We will continue this path in the future – also in close cooperation with our business partners. Here we are always guided by the wishes and needs of our exhibiting companies and visitors.

In which direction is the event developing?

The cloud example shows that more and more individual aspects of IT security must be considered worldwide. All levels of the cloud need security. This ranges from the provision of services, applications, software, secure accesses and assurance of the right identities to secure data storage in computing centres and lots more. it-sa reflects all these areas. There will also be an increased need in future to develop strategies against threats beyond national borders. Our objective for it-sa is to present IT security in Nürnberg in a comprehensive form in a central location for Europe and provide a platform for national and international experts.