Chris Valasek, director of security intelligence, IOActive

Known for his work on car hacking in 2013, Chris Valasek, director of security intelligence at IOActive, will be sharing even more insight on automotive security at the RSA Conference 2014 in San Francisco.

What events will you be attending this year in San Francisco?

I plan on being at our IOAsis event all day on the 25^th and 26^th. I will also be giving a presentation on automotive security on Friday Feb 28^th at RSA (Room 3018, 9 a.m.).

What influenced your decision?

RSA asked me to speak and I obliged.

What do you anticipate the most as far as conference talks this year?

I'm sure there will be a plethora of discussions about the NSA's current surveillance programs.

Given the RSA/NSA news, what kind of impact do you feel this will have on the show this year?

I'm not entirely sure. RSA is really a trade show as opposed to a highly technical conference. Therefore, I don't think the news will have much general impact.

What are some pressing concerns/threats in the industry that you feel will be discussed this year?

Patching systems of all kinds (PC, ICS, Embedded, Automotive, Healthcare, etc) in a reliable fashion still seems to a big issue. While some vendors are doing a pretty thorough job, others are lacking the ability to quickly and sufficiently protect their clients.