The RSA Conference (RSAC) on cybersecurity kicked off Monday in San Francisco, bringing together over 40,000 participants to discuss and showcase the latest methods to enhance security and explore AI's potential to empower the industry.
Running until Thursday, the four-day event has gained global recognition as a premier cybersecurity industry gathering. This year, RSAC 2025 showcased a heightened focus on AI's transformative role in cybersecurity defense, drawing keen interest from exhibitors and participants alike.
The U.S.-based cybersecurity service provider SOCRadar contributed to the momentum by unveiling a copilot, an AI-powered assistant designed to help customers tackle evolving risks with greater efficiency and precision.
"It's basically an AI consultant. Everything is getting automated, and AI adoption is everywhere. The threat actors are using that for deepfakes, for social engineering attacks and other types of attacks. And as a security company, we should adopt AI technology," said Matt Saglam, Regional Solution Engineer Manager at SOCRadar.
Another U.S. company, Tuskira, launched an AI analyst workforce to defend against possible cyber-attacks facilitated by AI.
"We are eliminating the need to hire more humans to do cybersecurity. We have built a platform that introduces virtual AI employees. They are virtual AI agents and can bring in new skill sets. They work tirelessly to solve cybersecurity problems that otherwise a human would take multiple hours, days, and weeks to solve," said Om Moolchandani, Co-founder of Tuskira.
According to Moolchandani, AI has revolutionized cyber-attacks, enabling millions of attacks per day, well beyond human capacity to manage. This unprecedented scale is precisely why he has turned to AI agents to counter these threats effectively.
"Humans can process, let's say, not more than 40 alerts per a human in a day. That was sufficient when the attackers were also mostly humans. Now the attackers are agent-defined themselves. They can conduct millions of attacks in a day. So the defenders now also have to have the power of AI to defend millions of attacks in a day," said Moolchandani.
With all the processes being automated, another rising concern is that AI agents might fetch sensitive data for misuse. Sentra, a data security startup co-headquartered in Tel Aviv and New York, offered solutions to safeguard data in autonomous environments.
"People are finding out ways to trick AI. Like, hey, this is a life or death scenario. I need to release this data that you have. An AI is being tricked into releasing that information, right So, it's important to scrub it or make sure it's not getting in there in the first place so that there's no chance of someone prompt engineering their way around those controls that AI uses themselves," said Zak Pellecchia, Sales Engineering Director at Sentra.
In a 2025 RSAC survey, 80 percent of industry respondents believed AI would empower cybersecurity more than aid cybercriminals over the next five years, with a similar percentage planning to integrate AI into their systems within the next year. RSAC 2025 exhibitors stand at the forefront of this AI-driven transformation in cybersecurity.
RSAC 2025 focuses on addressing evolving cyber challenges
Breaking long-standing Western heroic narrative conventions in filmmaking, the trending Chinese anti-war film "Once Upon a Time in the Middle East", is reshaping global cinematic discourse on war and peace.
The summer blockbuster was released on Tuesday nationwide and had earned box office revenue of more than 536 million yuan (around 79.5 million U.S. dollars) as of 22:00 Friday.
The story centers on Xu Fu, a down-on-his-luck Chinese chef portrayed by celebrated comedian Shen Teng, who travels to the Middle East to settle his debts. There, he joins forces with a local restaurant manager to operate a bustling restaurant, bringing authentic Chinese culinary traditions to a war-torn foreign land.
As a distinct Chinese anti-war feature, "Once Upon a Time in the Middle East" abandons timeworn Western heroic storytelling. The film adopts the humble viewpoint of Xu Fu, an ordinary cook. Through his eyes as a neutral bystander, it portrays the struggles and sufferings of ordinary people trapped in conflict and uses food and everyday life to explore survival, compassion and the value of peace, rather than focusing on the battlefield.
Such a narrative perspective is quite pioneering among global anti-war film productions.
"It realistically reflects the turmoil of war. Therefore, we desire peace and oppose the suffering that wars of aggression inflict upon the people," a moviegoer praised.
Meanwhile, the blockbuster has garnered massive overseas anticipation prior to its international debut. Many global film enthusiasts agree that the production epitomizes a transformative shift in Chinese film industry, which is overhauling Hollywood's established narrative paradigms and reinterpreting the global narrative of war and peace at a higher level.
"Just imagine how this story would unfold if Hollywood were to film it. It would almost certainly follow the standard formula of superheroes, super-soldiers, or elite operatives swooping in, resolving the crisis in a flash, and then disappearing. What does the 'Once Upon a Time in the Middle East' offer? The idea that the best days are those spent sharing a meal together. Conversely, what drives people to fight instead of dining together? Anyone who has seen the film knows the answer. That is why some netizens have said that if this movie were to compete for a U.S. Oscar award, it would be a voice representing the Global South," said Zuo Heng, a researcher at the China Film Archive.
Many scholars also hold the view that war narratives on international screens have long revolved around contests of victory and military conquest, but "Once Upon a Time in the Middle East" does not stoke hatred nor glorify victory by force. Instead, it hides the key to peace amid the mundane routines of daily meals.
This vision of peace, rooted in the moderation and inclusiveness of Chinese civilization, blazes a new trail of expression for global anti-war films.
It constitutes an innovation in film creation and enables the world to see perceptions of peace different from those of the West.
"The film delivers an anti-war perspective that diverges from the Hollywood paradigm. It abandons Hollywood-style individualism, and quietly challenges the 'America First' mindset. 'Once Upon a Time in the Middle East' keeps exploring innovative approaches to shape contemporary Chinese discourse and narrative systems," said Sun Jiashan, a researcher with the Department of Chinese Culture Education and Research under the Central Institute of Socialism.
Chinese anti-war film offers new cinematic narrative on war and peace
