20 Wild And Wacky Scenes From RSA San Francisco

The Best Of The Expo Floor

Did you eat a freshly baked cookie from Ivanti? Or play a Super Nintendo game in the 1980s-themed exhibit space of ObserveIT? Or beat back the malware strains on Avast's Whack-a-Hack machine?

RSA San Francisco typically sports a slew of major product announcements and high-profile keynotes, and 2019 was no different. But it wasn't just speeches and meetings—the more than 42,500 attendees could get screen printed T-shirts and hats and play a variety of cybersecurity-themed video games at one of 700 booths spread across the Moscone Center's two expo floors and the Marriott Marquis.

CRN takes a look back at 20 of the most zany and offbeat booths at last week's RSA San Francisco in hopes of bringing back some fond memories of the show.

Fight The Good Fight

Visitors to Deloitte's booth were able to take a trip down memory lane and defeat cyberadversaries with the London, U.K.-based company's solutions in a vintage cyberthreat video game. Deloitte, No. 15 on the 2018 CRN Solution Provider 500, offered interactive materials at its booth that show how cyber-risk programs can be architected to help address some of today’s most pressing business challenges.

Ready For Liftoff

People swinging by Ping Identity's booth were encouraged to take a selfie with their astronaut, Ping Armstrong, to get one of 50 $5 Starbucks gift cards and be entered for a chance to win a Lego NASA Apollo V Saturn rocket. Denver-based Ping was showing off a replica of Ryan Gosling's Apollo A7L Spacesuit from the 2018 movie “First Man” as the company rockets to a future without passwords.

The Hacks Don't Stand A Chance

Visitors to Avast's booth could protect themselves against viruses and become eligible to win a one-year license of Avast Premier by whacking malware strains on the Whack-a-Hack machine. The Prague, Czech Republic-based endpoint security vendor also had a giant threat-intelligence globe on display showing real-time threats as they travel from continent to continent.

All Fun And Games

WhiteSource's RSA booth was home to an arcade featuring the world's largest Pac-Man machine and an enormous screen displaying Space Invaders Frenzy. The New York-based open-source security and license compliance management platform was also giving out tickets for attendees to win an Amazon Echo or a TicWatch Pro smartwatch, which offers both GPS tracking and a heart-rate monitor.

Come On Down

Attendees stopping by the Thycotic booth had the chance to spin the company's giant “Price is Right” wheel for a chance to win the grand prize of a $100 Visa gift card. Other prizes being given out by the Washington, D.C.-based privileged access management vendor included a company swag bag, a special release new T-shirt, a company tattoo sleeve, a luggage tag, a stressball, and company socks.

Create Clarity From Chaos

RSA Conference attendees could drop unwanted swag in bins in front of Optiv's booth to throw their support behind nonprofit organizations Girls in Tech or Code.org. The Denver-based company, No. 26 on the 2018 CRN Solution Provider 500, also held a livestream with ForeScout to talk about the partnership with Optiv, security tips for board members and thoughts on the cybertalent shortage.

Hitting The Links

Swivel Secure invited RSA attendees to play three holes of mini golf since in that time the company would have audited more than 2 million users accessing hundreds of applications. The Wetherby, U.K.-based two-factor authentication vendor said that it takes no more than four seconds to hack a device.

Putting The Pieces Together

Visitors capapble of solving the puzzle for ABT Networks would receive a gift from the Imperial Palace. The Beijing, China-based company's self-developed Security Platform Operation System is widely integrated and transforming the next generation of firewalls and application security gateway products for many first-line manufacturers at present, the company said.

Keeping The Botnets At Bay

Attendees swinging by CenturyLink's booth could play Botnet Slayer, which allows users to combat potential cyberthreats like phishing, remote-access trojans (RATs) and dropper malware. The Monroe, La.-based telecommunications company said that one player who tweeted a photo of themselves and their score on Botnet Slayer would be selected each day to win a prize.

The Key To Success

Visitors to the Alert Logic booth could try their luck at selecting the right key to unlock the box and win a set of Beats headphones. The Houston-based Security-as-a-Service provider also conducted a game of "JeoPARODY" cybersecurity trivia, and hosted a slew of company speakers including Dan Pitman, Ryan Berg, Tom Gorup, Monica Yoo, Jack Danahy and Marc Ybarra.

Talk To The Hand

Ten visitors that tweeted a selfie with Vaultron—Keeper's seven-foot robotic hand—were selected at random to win a free, one-year subscription to Keeper Family Bundle (a $96 value). The Chicago-based password management and digital vault software vendor was also serving up some delectable, freshly popped popcorn all week and hosted an open bar Wednesday evening.

Get These Cookies

Ivanti said its patch, privilege management, and whitelisting are better together just like cookies and milk, and as a result, the company was serving up fresh-baked cookies right out of the oven at its RSA booth. The South Jordan, Utah-based firm showed off its CVE Import capabilities at the booth, where vulnerabilities from all vendors can be mapped in minutes to the catalog of software the firm manages.

Nintendo, Atari, Sega's My Ferrari

ObserveIT showcased a retro tech-themed booth to shine light on the outdated technologies and risky user activities that could cause data loss for a business. The Boston-based insider threat management company had plenty of retro-themed fun, including a cybersecurity spin on 1980s movies, Nintendo games, and even a replica of the old recliner people sat in to play those video games.

'Click Here To Kill Everybody'

IBM Security brought in technologist and author Bruce Schneier for an in-depth conversation on how to create an environment where public interest tech can flourish as well as for a signing of his book "Click Here to Kill Everybody." The Cambridge, Mass.-based division was also giving out plasma balls to visitors who learned about what the future holds for cybersecurity.

Caps For Free

Visitors to Venafi's booth could get a hat custom printed with a cybersecurity-related inscription such as "Secrets Agent," "Mothercoder," "I Am Root," or "OH SSH IT." The Salt Lake City-based machine identity protection firm also hosted talks from Tomas Gustavsson of Prime Key Solutions, Scott Campbell of Unisys, Dave Madden of Gemalto, Brian Carpenter of CyberArk, and Snir Hassidim of Check Point.

Everything Is Awesome

Visitors to the Hillstone Networks booth were invited to tweet their photo with the Giant Lego character to remain eligible for a chance to win an Amazon Echo Spot. Booth demos covered issues for the Santa Clara, Calif.-based network security and risk management vendor including delivering protection at data center scale, cloud security, intelligent breach prevention, as well as SD-WAN tools.

Race To The Top

Visitors to the Varonis booth could participate in the Data Security Grand Prix, which tested how quickly a customer could race through the company's operational journey with difference race cars representing IT, compliance, and the hacker. The data security and insider test detection company also hosted Josh Carlin, the former assistant AG for the Justice Department, for a book signing at the show.

With Nothing But Your T-Shirt On

People swinging by CrowdStrike's booth received a live demo of the company's latest technology as well as a token for a free customized adversary T-shirt. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based vendor also had demonstrations every hour on the hour, where experts indicated how CrowdStrike's technology, expertise and intel can detect the latest attack techniques.

Together Everyone Achieves More

Visitors to FireEye's booth could get a custom-printed cap with the expressions "defend together," "protect together," "secure together," or "innovate together" appearing across the front. The Milpitas, Calif.-based company allowed guests to catch a theater presentation from experts, and explore interactive demos on Mandiant Consulting, FireEye Intelligence and Managed Defense, and other tools.

What Does The Fox Say?

The company's very own mascot, Zero the Fox, was at the booth posing and taking selfies so that attendees could come by and get a picture. Visitors who stopped by the booth and chatedwith the ZeroFox team could also have a donation made on their behalf to charities such as Code.org, Girls Who Code, or the Wounded Warrior project, ZeroFox said.