2014 AppSec APAC - History and Overview (Japanese and English)

I was able to have a wonderful conversation with Riotaro Okada and Robert Dracea this morning, talking about the upcoming AppSec APAC conference in Tokyo. This interview is unique, in that we have the English and Japanese responses integrated into the conversation. This is the first event of its kind in Japan and you can tell the locals are very excited about the possibilities, from internationally recognized speakers to showing visitors the hospitality of Japan. We begin the discussion with how the Tokyo OWASP chapter was started and how it led to the AppSec APAC Conference. Riotaro Okada Researcher Born in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, Mr. Okada has over 20 years of experience in software development and network construction. He has been involved in network construction, software development and the implementation of information security measures at independent software development companies, the R&D divisions of manufacturing companies as well as consulting firms. Mr. Okada has also facilitated various technology-related communities such as for Linux and PHP. In 2004, he founded the Web Application Security Forum and as a member of the board became involved in the diffusion of security-related information. Moreover, he was also a researcher at the Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA) for 8 years, and responsible for the IT strategy as well as disaster response projects at various government organizations. Mr. Okada is the co-leader of OWASP Japan since its founding, is CISA certified and holds an MBA from BBT (2009). Robert Dracea Mr. Dracea is responsible for the global strategy of a Japanese internet service company. With the mission of better sharing Japan’s advanced technological power with the world, from a business perspective, he has successfully architected numerous alliances and tie-ups both domestically in Japan as well as overseas. Additionally, he has also, on a volunteer-basis, conducted the translation and interpretation at multilingual OWASP Meetings. Mr. Dracea has been since its founding a member of the OWASP Japan Advisory Board.