20 Examples Of Wacky, Over The Top RSA Signage

Signage Super Bowl

RSA is one of the premier events on the security industry calendar, and it's also a proving ground of sorts for marketers. Each year, vendors come up with expo hall signage that drills home the message of why security is important in ambitious and creative ways.

Last year it was all about cloud security, and everywhere you looked were puffy little representations of clouds. This year, big data has taken over as the most prevalent RSA meme, though if you quizzed vendors as to what exactly "big data" means, you'd probably get 87 different answers.

CRN roamed the RSA 2013 expo hall in search of eye-catching signage, and here we present 20 examples that effectively caught our attention, albeit for reasons the vendors may not have intended.

Tangled Up In Firewall Management

AlgoSec, a Boston-based security vendor, wrapped this guy up in Cat-5, USB and other cabling to make an important point: Firewall management is complex, and companies that try to do it on their own are likely to run into a cumbersome sort of entanglement.

Soupy Sales

Veracode, a Burlington, Mass.-based vendor of application security software, went for the gusto this year with an adventurous campaign centered on the dangers of compromised third-party mobile and Web apps. Called S.O.U.P (Software Of Unknown Pedigree), Veracode's campaign borrows from that old-school American favorite, Campbell's Soup.

Ladling Out The Soup Imagery

In case there was any ambiguity, Veracode helpfully adorned its expo floor space with placards explaining the correlation between soup and application security. Veracode even flew in actor Larry Thomas, best known for his role as the "Soup Nazi," to mingle with RSA attendees on the show floor.

Comforting Presence Of A Robot

Security vendor Eset has for the past few years used a muscular, futuristic looking robot humanoid to illustrate the strength of its protection. Though creepy looking, that robot instills a sense of safety that allows businesses to carry on without worrying about being taken down by a skilled hacker syndicate. Let's face it, people just feel safer when a robot is there to protect them.

Endless Security

Huawei's spot on the RSA expo floor was situated in one of the far corners of Moscone Center's South Hall, but the company made a big splash with its "Endless Security" campaign, which here shows a rock climber mustering one last burst of strength in order to reach the top of a rock face. How this pertains to security was not clear, but no matter, the signage was eye-catching and engaging.

Bright Lights, Big Security

Juniper broke out the spotlights to show its new and presumably stronger approach to network security. If you thought you had network security all figured out, you might have been surprised by what you saw when walking through Juniper's space on the show floor.

Actionable Risk Intelligence

Actionable Risk Intelligence -- rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it? Gurucul, a security vendor with offices in Los Angeles and Mumbai, wowed RSA attendees with details on how its identity-centric behavioral risk intelligence can help protect customers from security threats.

Not Just A Job, But An Obsession

In case anyone had any doubts, McAfee does not view its role as a security software vendor through the lens of a job. Rather, McAfee brings a level of enthusiasm to the task that can best be described as obsessive.

Source Code Security

Fasoo.com, which describes itself as a vendor of "software products and services that liberate people from various risks and constraints in their digital life and business," touted its ability to make software source code safe from unseen lurking threats.

Omniscience Applied To Security

Solera Networks, a Utah-based network security intelligence and analytics vendor, says seeing everything happening on a network is the first step to being able to understand and control it. While its show-booth signage sounds like something Yoda would say, it did seem to make sense to RSA attendees.

Managing Identity Programs, Or Daydreaming?

Verizon was on hand to talk about how it manages identity programs for businesses and government agencies in over 50 countries. Sorry, but the woman pictured here doesn't look like she's working very diligently toward this goal.

Big Data Security Challenge

Cloud security has dominated the discussion at RSA in recent years, but now focus is shifting to big data's role in security. And what better way to send that message than by holding a contest? "You could win prizes for interacting with us at RSA Conference 2013. Take demos, watch videos, attend lectures, play the trivia game, tweet, like and share your way to victory!" reads the description on the RSA/EMC contest Website.

Battling Targeted Malware

HBGary, a Sacramento, Calif.-based security firm that abandoned its booth at RSA 2011 after claiming its staff had received "numerous threats of violence" from supporters of Anonymous, this year saw plenty of interest in its ActiveDefense threat intelligence product, which is used to deal with Advanced Persistent Threats.

Wheel Of Swag

Security vendor Imperva was one of many vendors on the RSA 2013 show floor that used spinning-wheel games to attract attendees. And frankly, people were having a tough time resisting the allure of water bottles and "swag" Imperva gave them when they spun the wheel.

Germany In The Hizzy

The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, in cooperation with the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry, sent 15 German security vendors to tout the virtues of their products and services. To illustrate their tech savviness, the organizations added a bunch of ones and zeros to their show floor signage. Get it?

Hack Yourself

Security vendor Rapid7 showed off the latest release of its Metasploit penetration testing tool on the RSA 2013 show floor, and also offered passersby a chance to try their hand at Mario Kart. Outside the show, Rapid7 hosted a party at Ruby Skye, the legendary San Francisco nightclub.

Fighting Mobile Malware

Kingsoft, a Beijing-based software vendor, calls its mobile antivirus product "the first security software to block malicious ads." Hear that, rest of the security industry?

We're Living In A "Cyber" World

At RSA 2013, security vendor Sensage flogged its SIEM and big data security offerings and, as evidenced here, attempted to pack as many "cyber" references as possible into a single piece of show floor signage.

Data Leaks Cost Money

DeviceLock, a San Ramon, Calif.-based vendor of data leak prevention software, warned RSA 2013 attendees not to let valuable ones and zeros slip through their hands.

Winner Of The Unofficial Dullest Signage Award

We're sure the fine folks at Sypris Solutions, a Louisville, Ky.-based provider of electronics manufacturing and engineering services for government agencies, are good at what they do. That said, Sypris' signage wasn't the type that reached out and grabbed RSA 2013 attendees -- and that's probably putting it kindly.