Ray Kaplan


(maintained by Rob Slade)

A former security columnist for "Digital News", Ray Kaplan is one of the most popular, entertaining, and informative security speakers on the conference circuit. He is also one of the busiest, as attested by his two (or is it three, now?) million mile United Airlines Gold Card. Given the pressures on his time, one can send him an entire treatise on a new concept, asking for comments, and expect to get the one-word response "Cool."

Kaplan's plain spoken assessment of the current state of security has tended to cast him as something of the "bad boy" of data security. He still sports a beard and ponytail, although he has recently taken to wearing a suit at major conferences. His somewhat embarrassed explanation that one needs to look corporate in order to be taken seriously is usually followed up with a sly "It's a good hack."

Probably the most fascinating of his many seminar presentations is "Meet the Enemy", first conducted at the DECUS Canada Symposium after being turned down by DECUS US.