What You Missed at RSAC 2025: 5 Favorite Moments

You can tell a lot about where the industry’s headed by the conversations at RSAC.

And now that the halls of San Francisco’s Moscone Center have calmed after another busy RSAC, it's time to reflect on the insights we gained.  

If you missed the action, don’t worry. Here are our five highlights from this year's event.

1. Unveiling Illumio Insights

At the heart of Illumio’s presence this year was the newest addition to our leading breach containment platform, Illumio Insights. It’s the world’s first AI cloud detection and response (CDR) solution built on an AI security graph.

Insights gives security teams what they’ve been asking for: real, actionable visibility into risk —and the ability to do something about it. By correlating traffic, behavior, and intent across hybrid environments, Insights helps organizations quickly identify the riskiest assets and automatically generate containment strategies to stop breaches fast.

Attendees got a hands-on look at Insights at our booth, where our live demos showed just how fast and intuitive real-time risk detection and breach containment can be.  

As Gary Barlet, our public sector CTO, put it: “Everyone’s looking for the easy button, and Insights gets them pretty close. It surfaces what matters in minutes, not hours.”

2. John Kindervag marks 15 years of Zero Trust

Over a decade ago, John Kindervag introduced the world to Zero Trust. This year at RSAC, he returned to reflect on how far the concept has come and where it’s headed next.

In his session, “Zero Trust at 15: The Evolution of Cybersecurity’s Defining Strategy,” Kindervag challenged security leaders to see beyond Zero Trust myths and industry buzzwords.  

“Zero Trust is not complicated. It’s intuitive — but too often it gets bogged down by pseudo-academic takes from people who haven’t actually done the work.”

– John Kindervag, Illumio chief evangelist and creator of Zero Trust

He pushed for a shift in mindset: from passive defenders to cyber warriors with a purpose. “Cybersecurity is warfare,” he said. “We need to treat it that way, with the right tools, the right training, and the right incentives.”

“Zero Trust is not complicated. It’s intuitive — but too often it gets bogged down by pseudo-academic takes from people who haven’t actually done the work.”

3. Spotlight on breach containment and microsegmentation

AI may have dominated the expo floor, but in private meetings and public panels, a different topic kept coming up: breach containment.

More than ever, security teams are recognizing they can’t stop every attack. So they’re asking: What happens next?

That’s where segmentation shines. Long misunderstood as too complex or disruptive, it’s finally getting its due as a practical, scalable way to contain threats and limit damage. In fact, according to the recent Forrester Wave for Microsegmentation Solutions report, “We're living in the golden age of microsegmentation.”

Gary Barlet noted this shift in his conversations with customers.

“There’s a real awakening happening,” he said. “People are realizing they can’t prevent every breach, and they’re turning to segmentation to protect what matters most.”

4. Hearing from our partners and customers

We were proud to spotlight several Illumio customers and partners in our booth. They shared real-world insights on how they’re helping build cyber resilience with segmentation.

These conversations brought the Illumio breach containment platform to life. They showed that segmentation isn’t just a strategy — it’s a practical, proven way to improve security outcomes and reduce risk. And they reminded us why we do what we do: to empower defenders on the front lines with solutions that truly work.

5. Meeting you!

As much as we love launching products and leading thought-provoking sessions, the real highlight of RSAC is always the people.

Throughout the week, our booth was buzzing with incredible conversations — from longtime Illumio champions to folks just starting their Zero Trust journey.  

It was energizing to hear your stories, learn about your challenges, and swap ideas about what’s next for cybersecurity. Whether you stopped by for a demo, attended one of our sessions, or just came to grab some swag and chat, we’re grateful for the time you spent with us.

Thank you for making RSAC 2025 unforgettable!

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