Virtual Conferences : Silver Linings

Around this time of year, we typically highlight the major digital identity conferences coming up. The value of these in-person get-togethers is manifold. We exchange ideas with our peers; we find solutions to vexing problems; we progress standards and architectures and designs. We generate new business or develop our careers. We build and renew professional and personal relationships. And we have fun! 

During the course of a normal year, a huge number of identity professionals, IDPro members and non-members alike, get the opportunity to attend conferences – and other less formal meet-ups – often just to attend, sometimes to speak or to participate actively in other ways. 

This year is decidedly not a normal year. 

Most events have either postponed until later in the year, in the hope that the situation will have resolved sufficiently to allow people to attend. Identity Week London, the new Authenticate conference, and Know Identity fall into this camp. Others, including the European Cloud and Identity Conference (a.k.a. “EIC”) and Identiverse ® , are moving to some form of virtual delivery. 

Much of my day job revolves around managing the agenda for Identiverse ® – one of the major events in the Identity conference season, and IDPro’s ‘home’ show. We announced back in March that we would switch to a virtual delivery model this year. In doing so, we spent some time thinking not only about how to preserve some of the core elements of Identiverse ® that long-time attendees will know make the show special, but also whether the online delivery model offered us any new opportunities. 

We’re still ironing out some details, but here’s a preview of what you can expect. 

First, we know that the main reason people come to Identiverse is for the content. We have over 80 hours of material, most of it carefully selected by the content committee from our open and public call for presentations. If you have ever put in a proposal to speak (whether at Identiverse or at some other event) you’ll know that quite a lot of work goes into it even before you start building out your deck… and it’s a real buzz to get selected, even for veteran presenters! We certainly wanted to make sure to maintain as much of this year’s published agenda as possible. 

However, we also recognise that no-one is going to be able to devote the same amount of time in a single sitting to an online event as they would to an in-person conference. So, instead of simply transplanting the original 4-day event directly online, we’re taking the original material and spreading it out across several weeks, in much shorter blocks of time. Starting in early June there will be a couple of broadcasts most days – many featuring live Q&A with the presenter. Most of the material will also be available after the event so that people can watch at their leisure.

We hope that this preserves much of the essence of Identiverse: quality content, peer-to-peer interaction, and flexibility of viewing. But in addition, by moving to a virtual setting, and by making the event free of charge, it means that many more people will be able to attend, no matter their location or their personal circumstances. And we’re looking at some other possibilities, including some virtual networking and socialising ideas. 

The detailed agenda is already on the Identiverse website (with new filtering capabilities) and the broadcast schedule will be coming soon. The agenda is, as usual, broad; and plenty of IDPro members – both individuals and companies – are represented! 

As noted, other events are taking similar approaches. All of which means that, in spite of all the challenges we face at home, and at work, it turns out that there are more opportunities than ever to deepen existing skills, learn new ones, and connect with our peers around the world. 

For me personally, I know that I will miss heading to Munich for EIC, with meet-ups in beer gardens, and pretzels, and vast platters of pork. And I will miss the intensity of Identiverse week, and the glass of scotch that I enjoy with a few friends as a treat at the end of a busy week.

But this year, I will actually get to watch all of the presentations at Identiverse; and I will make new connections with Identity professionals who I wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to get to know. And… I’m sure I’ll find a way to enjoy that end-of-show drink, even if we have to do it over a web conference 🙂

So make the most of the opportunities that this year’s conference season brings. It will certainly be a different experience… and sometimes, different can be better! 

Andrew Hindle 

Identiverse Content Chair, Independent Consultant, Board Member IDPro 

Let’s Play! Dating Strategy of Malware Technique 

1. Catfishing 
2. Dogfishing 
3. Sniffing 
4. Ghosting 
5. Rooting 
6. Benching 
7. Doppelgänging 
8. Roaching 
9. Pharming 
10. Haunting 
11. Kittenfishing 
12. Phreaking 
13. Orbiting 
14. Cracking 
15. Phubbing 
16. Breadcrumbing 
17. Stashing 
18. Spoofing 
19. Submarining 
20. Snooping 
21. Mooning 
22. Throning 
23. Wardriving 
24. Tindstagramming 
25. Vulturing 
26. Zombieing 
27. Piggybacking 
28. Social Engineering

Dating Strategy: 2 (really?), 4, 6 (my entire middle school experience both socially and athletically), 8 (is askmen.com the best source for dating advice?), 10 (cosmo is definitely the canonical source for this kind of info, and possibly originates most of it), 11 (rampant on linkedin, to be fair), 13, 15 (also useful in parenting), 17, 19 (I’m just as surprised as you that NPR covered this), 21 (again, a good portion of my middle school experience, but it had nothing to do with dating), 22 (do you need 12 steps to identify this?), 24 (just completely, completely wrong)

Malware Technique: 3, 5, 7, 9 (not the worst thing that can happen to your DNS), 18 (I’m setting a ringtone for “nuisance likely”), 23 (still one of my favorite techniques for the change of scenery alone), 27 (if you haven’t, do an internet search for Deviant Ollam’s youtube series to see an artist at work)

Both: 1 (and additional meanings as well: how is this even a thing?), 12 (Don’t Google this, trust me), 16 (old-school action – it’s what got Mitnick hooked), 20, 25 (if we’re counting media coverage), 27, and, not surprisingly, 28 

Scoring Rubric: 

1-10: You’re likely skilled in either the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome that is the online dating scene, or you’re a highly sought-after security mercenary. As this simple quiz shows, the Venn diagram for those two categories resembles a map of two seas that lie on opposite sides of Asia. 

11-20: The sweet spot in the bell curve, also known as the normal or Gaussian or Laplace-Gauss distribution. (And yes, I may have been spending too much time looking at statistics and graphs during the last few weeks.) Bonus points will be awarded based on the number of these terms you can work into your next conference session or video call with your elderly parents, whichever comes first. 
20-28: While your achievement is laudable, please note that the authorities (and your Tinder / Bumble / FarmersOnly contacts) will be notified for their own safety and wellbeing.