Hackers and cyber-thieves are outmaneuvering the cybersecurity industry, which is stuck in a “Dark Ages” mindset, a major security conference was told Tuesday.

Opening the RSA 2015 conference in San Francisco, RSA president Amit Yoran, said the epidemic of cyberattacks revealed over the past year show the industry is losing the battle.

Yoran said too many security professionals are stuck in a centuries-old mindset

“To keep the barbarians away, we’re simply building taller castle walls and digging deeper moats. Taller walls won’t solve our problem,” he said.

“No matter how high or smart the walls, focused adversaries will find ways over, under, around, and through.”

Yoran opened a conference of some 30,000 cyber industry specialists in San Francisco, on the heels of a series of spectacular incidents, including a devastating attack on Sony Pictures and data breaches affecting tens of millions of people.

“2014 was yet another reminder that we are losing this contest,” Yoran said in his keynote remarks.

“The adversaries are outmaneuvering the industry… and winning by every measure.”

Yoran said that to be effective, the cybersecurity industry needs to shift its mindset, and step up its intelligence to get “pervasive and true visibility” on potential attacks.

“This is not a technology problem,” he said. “This is a mindset problem.”

He said a crucial element in this is better verification of user identities, to prevent hackers from getting in with faked insider credentials.

“Identity and authentication matter more than ever . . . At some point in (any successful attack])campaign, the abuse of identity is a stepping stone the attackers use to impose their will,” he said.