OPSWAT targets file regeneration over detection for critical infrastructure security
Critical infrastructure security faces a novel threat of the sort that detection-based defenses were never designed to handle, and the critical personnel who run our power grids, water plants and financial systems can’t afford to learn this the hard way.
Benny Czarny (pictured), CEO and founder of OPSWAT Inc., makes this argument clear in his USA Today bestselling book, Cybersecurity Upside Down. Czarny said AI has dramatically accelerated the speed and targeting precision of file-borne attacks, making the traditional detect-and-respond model all but obsolete. Response models are dangerously slow in an environment where 99% uptime is not good enough and taking systems offline for investigation or patching is often impossible.
“Whenever we look at critical infrastructure and how to protect it, the network is extremely complex, and you can’t really afford to have any downtime,” Czarny said. “Think about it. You run a nuclear facility, or you run defense, or you are running a very important financial service. 99% is not enough.”
Czarny spoke with Krista Case at Black Hat USA during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed why prevention through file regeneration is more effective than detection for critical infrastructure security, how peripheral media remains a dangerously underestimated attack vector and what OPSWAT’s bootstrapped growth model has meant for its product focus and customer relationships. (* Disclosure below.)
