At least eight security experts boycott prominent security conference over NSA ties

At least eight computer security researchers have withdrawn from a major security conference in a protest against the conference's sponsor, computer security firm RSA. That company has been accused of taking money from the National Security Agency to incorporate a flawed encryption algorithm into one of its security products.

The researchers include Adam Langley and Chris Palmer, both on various security teams at Google; Chris Soghoian, principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union; EFF special counsel Marcia Hoffman; Mozilla Global Privacy and Public Policy Leader Alex Fowler; Josh Thomas, who is listed as "chief breaking officer" at Atredis Partners; and Jeffrey Carr, CEO of security consultancy Taia Global. They joined F-Secure Chief Research Officer Mikko Hypponen, who announced his plans to withdraw two weeks ago.

The RSA Conference is a major cybersecurity industry event that attracted over 24,000 attendees in 2013. Hugh Thompson, the program committee chairman, calls speaking slots at the conference "highly competitive," with more than 2,000 submissions battling for 300 to 400 sessions.