During RSAC Conference 2025, Andrew Carney, Program Manager at DARPA, and (remotely via video) Dr. Kathleen Fisher, Professor at Tufts University and Program Manager for the AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC), guide attendees through an immersive experience called Northbridge—a fictional city designed to showcase the critical role of AI in securing infrastructure through the DARPA-led AI Cyber Challenge.
Inside Northbridge: The Stakes Are Real
Northbridge simulates the future of cybersecurity, blending AI, infrastructure, and human collaboration. It’s not just a walkthrough — it’s a call to action. Through simulated attacks on water systems, healthcare networks, and cyber operations, visitors witness firsthand the tangible impacts of vulnerabilities in critical systems. Dr. Fisher emphasizes that the AI Cyber Challenge isn’t theoretical: the vulnerabilities competitors find and fix directly apply to real open-source software relied on by society today.
The AI Cyber Challenge: Pairing Generative AI with Cyber Reasoning
The AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) invites teams from universities, small businesses, and consortiums to create cyber reasoning systems capable of autonomously identifying and fixing vulnerabilities. Leveraging leading foundation models from Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, the teams operate with tight constraints—working with limited time, compute, and LLM credits—to uncover and patch vulnerabilities at scale. Remarkably, during semifinals, teams found and fixed nearly half of the synthetic vulnerabilities, and even discovered a real-world zero-day in SQLite.
Building Toward DEFCON Finals and Beyond
The journey doesn’t end at RSA. As the teams prepare for the AIxCC finals at DEFCON 2025, DARPA is increasing the complexity of the challenge—and the available resources. Beyond the competition, a core goal is public benefit: all cyber reasoning systems developed through AIxCC will be open-sourced under permissive licenses, encouraging widespread adoption across industries and government sectors.
From Competition to Collaboration
Carney and Fisher stress that the ultimate victory isn’t in individual wins, but in strengthening cybersecurity collectively. Whether securing hospitals, water plants, or financial institutions, the future demands cooperation across public and private sectors.
The Northbridge experience offers a powerful reminder: resilience in cybersecurity is built not through fear, but through innovation, collaboration, and a relentless drive to secure the systems we all depend on.
___________
Guest:
Andrew Carney, AI Cyber Challenge Program Manager, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-carney-945458a6/
Hosts:
Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com
Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com
______________________
Episode Sponsors
ThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974
Akamai: https://itspm.ag/akamailbwc
BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb
SandboxAQ: https://itspm.ag/sandboxaq-j2en
Archer: https://itspm.ag/rsaarchweb
Dropzone AI: https://itspm.ag/dropzoneai-641
ISACA: https://itspm.ag/isaca-96808
ObjectFirst: https://itspm.ag/object-first-2gjl
Edera: https://itspm.ag/edera-434868
___________
Resources
The DARPA AIxCC Experience at RSAC 2025 Innovation Sandbox: https://www.rsaconference.com/usa/programs/sandbox/darpa
Learn more and catch more stories from RSAC Conference 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/rsac25
___________
KEYWORDS
andrew carney, kathleen fisher, marco ciappelli, sean martin, darpa, aixcc, cybersecurity, rsac 2025, defcon, ai cybersecurity, event coverage, on location, conference
______________________
Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverage
Want to tell your Brand Story Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrf
Want Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us
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By ITSPmagazine, Sean Martin, Marco Ciappelli
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During RSAC Conference 2025, Andrew Carney, Program Manager at DARPA, and (remotely via video) Dr. Kathleen Fisher, Professor at Tufts University and Program Manager for the AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC), guide attendees through an immersive experience called Northbridge—a fictional city designed to showcase the critical role of AI in securing infrastructure through the DARPA-led AI Cyber Challenge.
Inside Northbridge: The Stakes Are Real
Northbridge simulates the future of cybersecurity, blending AI, infrastructure, and human collaboration. It’s not just a walkthrough — it’s a call to action. Through simulated attacks on water systems, healthcare networks, and cyber operations, visitors witness firsthand the tangible impacts of vulnerabilities in critical systems. Dr. Fisher emphasizes that the AI Cyber Challenge isn’t theoretical: the vulnerabilities competitors find and fix directly apply to real open-source software relied on by society today.
The AI Cyber Challenge: Pairing Generative AI with Cyber Reasoning
The AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) invites teams from universities, small businesses, and consortiums to create cyber reasoning systems capable of autonomously identifying and fixing vulnerabilities. Leveraging leading foundation models from Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, the teams operate with tight constraints—working with limited time, compute, and LLM credits—to uncover and patch vulnerabilities at scale. Remarkably, during semifinals, teams found and fixed nearly half of the synthetic vulnerabilities, and even discovered a real-world zero-day in SQLite.
Building Toward DEFCON Finals and Beyond
The journey doesn’t end at RSA. As the teams prepare for the AIxCC finals at DEFCON 2025, DARPA is increasing the complexity of the challenge—and the available resources. Beyond the competition, a core goal is public benefit: all cyber reasoning systems developed through AIxCC will be open-sourced under permissive licenses, encouraging widespread adoption across industries and government sectors.
From Competition to Collaboration
Carney and Fisher stress that the ultimate victory isn’t in individual wins, but in strengthening cybersecurity collectively. Whether securing hospitals, water plants, or financial institutions, the future demands cooperation across public and private sectors.
The Northbridge experience offers a powerful reminder: resilience in cybersecurity is built not through fear, but through innovation, collaboration, and a relentless drive to secure the systems we all depend on.
___________
Guest:
Andrew Carney, AI Cyber Challenge Program Manager, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-carney-945458a6/
Hosts:
Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com
Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com
______________________
Episode Sponsors
ThreatLocker: https://itspm.ag/threatlocker-r974
Akamai: https://itspm.ag/akamailbwc
BlackCloak: https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb
SandboxAQ: https://itspm.ag/sandboxaq-j2en
Archer: https://itspm.ag/rsaarchweb
Dropzone AI: https://itspm.ag/dropzoneai-641
ISACA: https://itspm.ag/isaca-96808
ObjectFirst: https://itspm.ag/object-first-2gjl
Edera: https://itspm.ag/edera-434868
___________
Resources
The DARPA AIxCC Experience at RSAC 2025 Innovation Sandbox: https://www.rsaconference.com/usa/programs/sandbox/darpa
Learn more and catch more stories from RSAC Conference 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/rsac25
___________
KEYWORDS
andrew carney, kathleen fisher, marco ciappelli, sean martin, darpa, aixcc, cybersecurity, rsac 2025, defcon, ai cybersecurity, event coverage, on location, conference
______________________
Catch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverage
Want to tell your Brand Story Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://itspm.ag/evtcovbrf
Want Sean and Marco to be part of your event or conference? Let Us Know 👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/contact-us
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