RSAC 2026 Conference focuses on international cooperation
The increasingly challenging geopolitical climate is making itself felt in cyberspace too, which makes international dialogue and close cooperation all the more crucial. At the RSAC 2026 Conference in San Francisco, Florian Schütz joined representatives from over 45 countries to tackle key issues relating to AI, regulation and global cooperation.
At this year’s RSAC 2026 Conference in San Francisco, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) focused primarily on sharing professional insights on current challenges and strategic developments in the cyber domain.
A key aspect was the ‘International Cybersecurity Forum’, which was attended by high-level representatives from over 45 countries. Discussions focused on the responsible use of AI in cybersecurity – for example, the need to weigh up new opportunities for detecting attacks against the additional risks posed by automated attack methods – as well as on the further development of international cooperation mechanisms. It became apparent that joint efforts to address cross-border cyberthreats are becoming increasingly tangible and operational.
Main theme: Power of Community
Alongside the main conference, which was held under the theme of the Power of Community, the event featured a number of in-depth sessions and roundtable discussions, some of which were held in smaller, more specialised groups. Key topics included the security of AI applications, the harmonisation of regulatory approaches, international cooperation, the exchange of information and coordinated cyber operations. One hotly debated subject was 'active defence', i.e. countering cyberattacks by striking back. The conference also examined core tensions that are equally relevant in Switzerland: between security and innovation, between national sovereignty and international cooperation, and between the pace of technological development and the capacity of regulation to keep up. Digital sovereignty, it was argued, should not be understood as self-sufficiency, but rather as a question of how trust relationships can be maintained and deepened. At the same time, participants emphasised that international cooperation remains essential: supply chains are still global, and individual states' efforts to regionalise have so far met with only limited success. Regulation should serve cybersecurity first and foremost, without hampering innovation or operational security. The discussions on regulation, sovereignty, and the current threat landscape offer valuable points of reference for ongoing work at the national level.
Exchanges with international partners
In exchanges with international partners – including dialogue with industry bodies and leading technology companies – participants explored how to advance cyberthreat intelligence and intensify operational collaboration. Particular emphasis was placed on approaches to improving information flows, making even more effective use of shared situational assessments, and implementing measures against fraud and cyberattacks more consistently.
Gauging international developments
Overall, the event underlined the growing importance of regulatory harmonisation, the governance of emerging technologies, and questions of digital sovereignty – and how all of these, in the current geopolitical climate, increasingly have implications at the national level.
