The stage where the world's security leaders gather, RSAC 2025. RSA Conference, the world's largest cybersecurity event, was successfully held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, USA, from April 28 to May 1.

CloudNetworks attended in person to deliver the flow of global security strategy and vivid on-site insights. At this event, which gathered some 45,000 security professionals from around the world, the three key keywords we focused on were "rapidly changing threat landscape," "AI-based response technology," and "community-based security strategy." These are also deeply connected to the direction of the security business CloudNetworks is focusing on domestically.

The first installment of the RSAC 2025 on-site report series follows the journey that began in San Francisco, sharing the shift in security paradigms and key insights presented at the opening keynote.

✈️RSAC 2025: On-Site Excitement Beginning at San Francisco Airport

The moment we stepped out of the arrival gate at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), a welcome sign reading "SFO Welcomes RSAC 2025 Conference" greeted us, and the event atmosphere was already palpable even at the airport. Moving toward the Moscone Center, located in the heart of downtown, we could see RSAC guide stickers and banners throughout the streets, with staff stationed everywhere to help with event registration. Wearing neon-colored uniforms and flag backpacks, they guided attendees on directions, and even the sidewalks had RSAC logos and venue directions attached to the ground, making the entire downtown feel like a single conference space.

Passing through the security checkpoint into the Moscone Center, the venue was bustling with people gathered from all over the world, and at the registration desks and check-in zones, badges could be issued quickly through the electronic registration system. Throughout the venue, loud voices announcing check-in, arrows, and "First-Time Gathering Spot" guide balloons were set up so that first-time attendees could also adjust smoothly.

💡Keynote: "People Matter More Than Technology, Community Matters More Than Competition"

The official theme of RSAC 2025 is "Many Voices. One Community." Fitting this theme, the first-day keynote was filled with messages emphasizing the importance of community and collaboration rather than technology.

▶ Hugh Thompson, RSAC Executive Chairman

"The heart of cybersecurity is community. The key to responding to new threats is not technology, but trust and cooperation between people." In his keynote address, Chairman Hugh Thompson emphasized that the mindset in the cybersecurity field must now be variable and flexible, like a Bayesian approach, rather than a fixed belief. He stressed that flexibly revising existing assumptions according to changing threats, and knowledge-sharing and mentoring within the community, are essential.

▶ Cisco: Foundation AI Open-Source Release

At this keynote, Cisco unveiled Foundation AI, an AI model specialized for cybersecurity, and announced that it would open-source the model's entire training parameters and tooling framework. This lightweight model, based on 800 million parameters, can run on just one or two GPUs, and its design stood out for keeping the transparency and collaboration of the entire security community in mind. Vice President Jeetu Patel stated that "our true enemy is not the competition, but the cyber threat itself," emphasizing that the transparency and verifiability of AI models will be key to the future of AI security.

▶ Microsoft: The Rise of Agentic AI

Microsoft Vice President Vasu Jakkal forecast that, centered on Agentic AI, an era of AI security agents that autonomously adjust policies and predict threats would arrive within the next two years. She delivered the message that authentication methods must evolve from static to dynamic verification, and security policies must evolve to become prediction-centered.

▶ Trellix: An Intelligence Strategy Against Nation-State Cyber Threats

Trellix held a session titled "The Intelligence War: Winning Against Nation-States," focused on strategies for responding to nation-state-level cyber threats. Director John Fokker emphasized that nation-state cyber threats are rapidly becoming more sophisticated due to generative AI and the expanded, disconnected attack surface, and that responding to this requires geopolitical understanding, strategic response, and cooperation based on information sharing. In particular, he stressed the importance of establishing a response system that protects global security based on the latest threat intelligence.

This year's RSAC 2025 keynote was an occasion that clearly showed a community-based security philosophy that is becoming even more important in the AI era, going beyond technology-centered keywords. This trend, experienced firsthand on-site, also presents an important direction for the domestic security ecosystem.

🏆RSAC Innovation Sandbox 2025: ProjectDiscovery Wins

RSAC's flagship startup competition program, the "Innovation Sandbox Contest," celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. This year's contest drew applications from more than 200 security startups worldwide, an increase of about 40% compared to the previous year. This year's win went to ProjectDiscovery, which developed an open-source attack surface monitoring platform. Based on the Nuclei engine, they provide automated vulnerability diagnosis and response capabilities, and currently operate an open-source tool actually used by more than 100,000 security professionals worldwide. The judging panel highly evaluated not only their technical capabilities but also their close ties with the security community. ProjectDiscovery cited their collaboration with the global community as the reason for their win, calling it "a moment that proved powerful security innovation is possible even through open source."

This year, RSAC promised $5 million in investment to each of the Top 10 finalists, and the Innovation Sandbox is establishing itself in the industry as a "gateway to success" for emerging companies. Previous winners and finalists include SentinelOne, Imperva, Axonius, and BigID, and notably, Wiz, a 2021 finalist, was acquired by Google this year for approximately $32 billion, marking the largest acquisition of a private cybersecurity company in history.

In the second installment of the RSAC 2025 on-site report series, we will introduce the booths of global security companies encountered at the exhibition hall, on-site experiences, and the latest technology trends.