“RSAC 2025 was an essential reminder that evolving threats demand evolving defences. We return energised to drive more realistic, context-aware assessments across Asia and beyond.” — Peter Stelzhammer, AVAR Board Member

SAN FRANCISCO / INNSBRUCK / SINGAPORE — May 21, 2025 — Representing the Asia Pacific region’s voice in cybersecurity, AVAR Board Member Peter Stelzhammer recently attended the RSA Conference 2025 in San Francisco, one of the industry’s most significant global gatherings. Stelzhammer’s participation under the AVAR banner brought strategic insight into the forum’s cutting-edge themes and strengthened AVAR’s role in shaping independent cybersecurity evaluation across Asia and globally.

RSAC 2025 offered an intense programme of technical panels, expert-led briefings, and critical insights into AI-driven threat detection, operational technology (OT) security, and next-generation endpoint protection. Among the event’s most pressing messages was a clear consensus: endpoint protection remains a fundamental pillar of organisational cybersecurity. As one panellist aptly summarised, “If you forget endpoint protection, you get infected.”

Peter, representing AVAR and AV-Comparatives, actively participated in high-level sessions addressing the dynamic evolution of attacker tactics and the emergence of extended detection and response (XDR) capabilities. These discussions underscored a shared industry priority: testing and validation must keep pace with real-world threats. AVAR's commitment to regional cybersecurity resilience is well-aligned with these global imperatives.

Private exchanges with analysts and cybersecurity leaders at RSAC reaffirmed the increasing necessity for independent validation in a marketplace saturated with vendor claims. This dialogue strengthens AVAR's ongoing efforts to advocate for transparent, unbiased security testing in the Asia-Pacific landscape.

Inspired by the collaborative energy and technical depth of RSAC, Stelzhammer returns with a sharpened vision for AVAR’s future contributions—particularly around fostering more realistic, contextually grounded assessment frameworks for enterprise security, EDR/XDR environments, and OT networks.

By engaging directly with global leaders and benchmarking against the latest developments, AVAR continues to uphold its mission: to drive cybersecurity excellence through independent, science-based evaluation and cooperative advancement across borders.

Peter will also represent AVAR at Infosec London in June 2025. Get in contact to meet in person.