SOAR Vendor Kicked Out for Demonstration Shining Light on
Cybersecurity’s Biggest Issues

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Swimlane,
a leader in security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR), was
removed from RSA Conference (RSAC) yesterday after staging a protest to
draw attention to some of the biggest issues in cybersecurity: analyst
burnout and the cybersecurity talent gap.

RSAC rules state that any marketing or promotional activities must be
pre-approved by event officials or outside of a five-mile radius of the
Moscone Center, where the convention is held. This covers an area of
approximately 35 square miles, nearly monopolizing the 47.35 square
miles of San Francisco proper. While RSAC might have started as a way to
get people together to innovate, controlling conversations on this level
only confirms Swimlane’s belief that the event is more focused on the
bottom line than it is on driving change.

“Swimlane is one of the only independent SOAR vendors, but we’re not the
largest cybersecurity vendor. We are committed to optimizing the entire
cybersecurity space. We pushed the envelope in order to raise awareness
for ourselves and for the major roadblocks hindering the security space
in general,” said Cody Cornell, co-founder and CEO of Swimlane.

Swimlane’s staged protest was held on behalf of overworked security
analysts everywhere and meant to draw attention to a very real problem.
The widening cybersecurity skills gap—caused by a combination of the
industry struggling to attract potential talent and burning out existing
talent—is creating a dangerous situation for enterprises, government
agencies and consumers alike.

“Our goal was to practice a commonly used form of expression to bring
light to the issue. Our goal was never to be disruptive or disrespectful
but to be effective and do something with impact, no more no less. Our
only infraction was to fail to coordinate with RSAC in advance prior to
staging the protest. Even after we were shut down, we have remained
respectful and non-disruptive,” said Jorge Esguerra, chief financial
officer at Swimlane. “I think RSAC has wronged us in perhaps an
irreparable way. RSAC refused to attend two scheduled meetings to
discuss the issue. We were denied due process and their drastic response
was not commensurate with the infraction. It was a disproportionate
response.”

The ever-evolving and growing threat landscape combined with the
widening skills gap (3.5
million unfilled jobs by 2021) is creating a dire situation. Bad
actors are only getting more sophisticated and breaches are increasing
daily. There is a crucial need in the industry to empower analysts and
increase the efficacy of security operations centers industry-wide.

“RSAC is touted as a place to come if you want to work with the
brightest minds to solve the hardest problems in our industry. But being
shutout of the event entirely because it wasn’t a paid event, is
counterintuitive to how we enact real change,” said Cornell. “By
shutting us out of the conference for a totally benign, well-meaning,
and satirical protest, RSAC has really shocked folks with their
response. We stand behind our messaging and everything for which it
stands and believe this would not have happened if we were a
premier-level sponsor.”

Swimlane will continue its mission on behalf of analysts everywhere. For
more information, visit Swimlane.com.

About Swimlane

Swimlane is at the forefront of the growing market of security
automation, orchestration and response (SOAR) solutions and was founded
to deliver scalable and flexible security solutions to organizations
struggling with alert fatigue, vendor proliferation and chronic staffing
shortages. Swimlane’s solution helps organizations address all security
operations (SecOps) needs, including prioritizing alerts, orchestrating
tools and automating the remediation of threats—improving performance
across the entire organization. Swimlane is headquartered in Denver,
Colorado with operations throughout North America and Europe. For more
information, visit www.Swimlane.com.

Contacts

Melissa Christensen
MAPRagency
[email protected]
720.833.5918