The Seventh Annual IT Security Automation Conference, co-hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will focus on the breadth and depth of principles and technologies designed to support computer security automation for organizations in both the public and private sectors. The conference will be held Oct.31 through Nov. 2, 2011, at the Crystal City Hyatt Regency Hotel in Crystal City, Va.

Government and industry are turning to IT security automation because it leverages computer standards and specifications to simplify key security tasks, including managing vulnerabilities, measuring security and ensuring compliance to rules and regulations. Automation frees resources to focus on other areas of the IT infrastructure.

The goal of the conference is to provide public- and private-sector executives, security managers and staff, IT professionals, and developers of products and services with a common understanding for using specific open standards and new security technologies. Topics include enabling interoperability among tools, automating risk mitigation measures, defining continuous monitoring, performing continuous monitoring in the cloud, automating integration of network security systems and using processes and tools to make practical risk-based decisions.

The Security Automation Conference will have six tracks: Continuous Monitoring, Software Assurance, Network Automation, IT Security Threats, Specification Updates and Vendor Products and Capabilities. The three-day event includes tutorials, conference proceedings, workshops and a vendor expo.

More information, including the agenda and registration, is available at http://scap.nist.gov/events/index.html.

NIST, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) co-host this annual event. The four agencies are partnering to develop and implement automation of computer security.

A trade show runs concurrently with the conference and includes more than 30 vendors demonstrating available security automation packages. Reporters interested in attending should contact Evelyn Brown,             (301) 975-5661      .