InfoSecurity kicks off with a bang (well, a loud puff)

Thank God there's still life left in trade shows. Those readers who have been around for as long as I have (sympathy, please), will remember the sad demise of the CMA conference in Brighton shortly after the dotcom crash, and then the sudden exit of the NEC-based Networks Telecom shortly afterwards.

Those two flops, plus a few smaller failures, put the skids under the enthusiasm of a) exhibitors and b) more importantly, IT professionals, to turn up. There are even rumours that the Hannover monstrosity CeBIT could be feeling the heat.

Well thankfully there is more oomph in the security sphere. Markedly more, in fact. We're had four reporters on the ground here at InfoSecurity Europe in London's Olympia today, attending a broad variety of briefings and keynotes, plus the usual mix of speaking to a large handful of contacts.

And it's not only us who've found the event useful. Several vendors are reporting good business - and at face value, that doesn't seem surprisingly given how busy the main exhibition hall has been.

Let's keep our fingers crossed for two more busy days of security. We'll bring you the cream of it right the way through the show.