Security professionals the world over are on their way to Boston for SOURCE Conference 2012, which begins tomorrow. This one is a favorite of mine -- partly because it's on my home turf, and partly because the speaker quality is always top notch.

This year I'm particularly jazzed to see a talk from Josh Corman of Akamai and Jericho of Attrition.org about Anonymous. The two have been writing a series of articles called "Building a Better Anonymous," and it has quickly become required reading for anyone who wants to understand Anonymous and its future.

TITLE: Anonymous 20/20 : The Beginning is Near (Tuesday, 1-1:50 p.m.)

To understand what Anonymous might become by 2020 requires we have clear-eyed 20/20 vision as to where they have been, what they are today, and what is driving their evolution. While few of us have even come to grips with the implications of 2011, it is time to confront the issues.

Anonymous is now a house-hold name. Even with moral infighting, splinter groups, and a potentially devastating brand problem, the group shows no signs of slowing. With over a hundred arrests world-wide, the phenomenon is unlikely to go away. In short, some form of Anonymous is here to stay.

Collectively, we must figure out how to adapt to them morally and practically. If Anonymous evolves as we've explained in our "Building a Better Anonymous" series, society must be ready to handle the good, the bad, and the ugly of these subsequent manifestations. Every action has reaction, so we must be conscientious and deliberate about how we adapt to the age of Anonymous. Our keynote will begin to address these issues and start the overdue dialogue that is crucial to citizens, InfoSec, law enforcement, and government.

Wednesday from 9-9:50 a.m. the keynoter is security luminary Dan Geer.

More details on the SOURCE Boston website.

Additional information:

April 17-19, 2012
Marriott Tremont
Boston, MA, USA