SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov 18, 2025 — International Data Corporation (IDC) officially released the “2025 IDC China Top 10 Cybersecurity Professionals” at the 10th IDC China CIO Summit last month. This honor is intended to recognize outstanding individuals who have made significant contributions to China’s cybersecurity market this year. Dr. Richard Zhao, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of International Business at NSFOCUS, has been selected for this prestigious list. This recognition not only affirms his personal professional capabilities but also highlights NSFOCUS’ industry influence in the field of cybersecurity.
Dr. Richard Zhao has 20+ years of professional experience in telecom and network security, and is CISSP, ITIL, and BS7799 certified. Currently, he works for NSFOCUS as CSO and COO of International Business, responsible for the overall business operations outside of China, including NA, APAC, EMEA, LATAM, etc. He worked for NSFOCUS as Chief Technology Officer and SVP Global Threat Research previously.
Dr. Zhao is an active contributor to Cloud Security Alliance, the founder of Greater China Chapter, winner of Ron Knode Service Award in 2012. He was Board Member of Silicon Valley Chapter of Cloud Security Alliance. His research interests include enterprise security strategy, cloud computing and security, security compliance and metrics, etc. More details about his career and thoughts could be found at LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/zhaol).
This year’s IDC China CIO Summit centered on the theme of how artificial intelligence (AI) is driving high-quality industrial growth and accelerating innovation across various sectors. NSFOCUS has always attached great importance to long-term investment and forward-looking layout in the field of AI-driven intelligent security. Since launching its first commercial security product based on machine learning in 2009, NSFOCUS has continuously promoted the implementation and evolution of AI technology in cybersecurity. Entering the era of large language models, NSFOCUS has continued to maintain its leading pace in technological innovation. In 2023, the company officially released its self-developed SecLLM “NSFGPT”. This model focuses on two core directions: the security application of LLMs and LLM security. It aims to drive the in-depth implementation of core capabilities such as AI agents and knowledge-enhanced reasoning in scenarios including emergency response, threat hunting, and intelligence analysis.
Looking ahead, NSFOCUS will join hands with industry partners and research institutions to jointly explore the path of in-depth integration between AI and cybersecurity. With continuous innovation as the driving force, the company will keep promoting the intelligent transformation of the cybersecurity industry.
