It’s happened again. Another major American company announced that it was the victim of a massive security breach, with cybercriminals stealing the personal identities and Social Security numbers of over 80 million customers. While the investigation into how the breach occurred is still ongoing, it has been reported that it started with a compromised privileged ID. Once again, people prove to be the weakest links in the security chain. And these days, a major security breach can be caused by just one compromised account.

Solutions to Protect Identities

With news like that, it’s no wonder organizations are deeply concerned about the potential security threats caused by a rogue administrator or privileged insider. Nobody wants their organization to be the next one making headlines for a security breach. Fortunately, IBM has robust identity and access management (IAM) solutions that, when coupled with its industry-leading security intelligence and threat protection solutions, can reveal user anomalies and block inappropriate access activities to help stop insider threats in their tracks. Today’s cybercriminals are smart, persistent and very, very good. You need to arm yourself with the best security solutions available to have a fighting chance at staying ahead of the bad guys.

The best place to discover these security solutions is at IBM InterConnect, which will be held from Feb. 22 to Feb. 26 in Las Vegas. IBM and its partners will showcase their latest IAM offerings, including an identity governance platform, mobile and cloud IAM solutions and privileged ID management. InterConnect will have a dedicated track on IAM, with more than 20 sessions led by IBM customers, business partners and other experts. There will also be a “Meet the Experts” session with top IBM Security developers as well as opportunities to network and share tips and tricks with your peers in IT and security management.

Who Will Be There?

Some of the world’s most successful companies and organizations will be at InterConnect to share insights on how they successfully combat insider threats and safeguard user access with IBM Security IAM solutions. The following are just some of the highlights:

• Bankia, a major financial services provider in Spain, will share its success story of how it thwarts insider threats with IBM Security Privileged Identity Manager™.

• MasterCard and the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection will talk about their experiences securing customer identities.
• European retail chain Ahold will provide best practices for success when migrating to the IBM Security Access Manager™ appliance.
• U.S. electrical provider Westar Energy will explain how it leverages identity and access for efficiency in the software-as-a-service marketplace.
• Vantis Life Insurance will detail how cloud-based IAM services can drive lower ownership costs, quicker time-to-value and increased agility.
• E.ON, an IBM identity governance customer, and Deloitte, one of IBM’s Premier Business Partners, will describe the key trends driving the need for identity governance.
• Westpac, ranked No. 1 in the “Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World,” will speak about access and Web security.
• Organizations such as Chapman University, Whirlpool Corporation and the state of Texas will share their experiences with identity management, federation and integration with partner-based solutions such as BIO-key, 8K Miles and Experian.

What Will You Get From IBM InterConnect?

One of the more unique sessions will be the game show “Whose Hack Is It Anyway?” in the improv style of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” See whether you can stump the IAM experts by participating directly in this session with your questions or scenario.

Tweet your problem, question or scenario to @IBMSecurity with the hashtag #AskIAMExperts and #IBMInterConnect, or leave a comment here on the blog. Your submission will be put into a hat. If it gets pulled from the hat, the IBM IAM experts will address your questions live onstage. The game show will run twice — once for a quick preview from 3:30 to 3:50 p.m. Monday in the engagement center and again from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday in Lagoon J.

If you are an IBM mainframe fan, you will have plenty to see, as well. You will hear from other mainframe clients about how to take the complexity out of compliance while maximizing security on your mainframes to protect sensitive data, comply with regulations, detect threats and optimize system availability and reliability.

InterConnect 2015 will also feature the IBM Engagement Center, staffed by leading security developers. Here, you’ll have a chance to kick the tires and see for yourself what these security solutions look and feel like. Bring your questions about managing identities and get the facts from IBM Security’s developers. You will also have a chance to play with live products such as IBM Security Identity Manager™, IBM Security Privileged Identity Manager and the IBM Security Access Manager appliances in IBM’s open or managed labs.

Whether you are a techie or a C-level executive, there is so much to see and learn at InterConnect. I hope to see you at the Aerosmith concert on Wednesday night — I’ll be the one singing along horribly to “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” I don’t want you to miss a thing at the conference, so register to attend IBM InterConnect in person, or join the virtual conference live stream.

When your firm is mentioned in the news, it should be because of your success, not because you’ve fallen victim to a damaging security hack.