Guest: Emre Tinaztepe (LinkedIn)
Company: Binalyze (Twitter)
Show: Let’s Talk

While security is often seen as a game of cat and mouse, the reality is that on average it takes 300 days to detect a security threat and this can unfortunately sometimes be too long. Digital forensics and incident response company, Binalyze, feels that a new proactive approach to security is needed involving running continuous compromised assessments regardless of whether you have an alert or not.

In this episode of TFiR: Let’s Talk, Emre Tinaztepe, Founder and CEO of Binalyze, talks about the company’s journey, what sets them apart from their competitors, and the changing security landscape and how organizations need to adapt to it. He goes on to discuss how much awareness there is around today’s security challenges and how Binalyze is helping enterprises take a more proactive approach to security.

Key highlights from this video interview:

• Tinaztepe explains that Binalyze was founded six years ago and focuses on automating the processes end to end for digital forensics and incident response. He tells us the company’s initial product was a single executable that runs on a machine and collects all the evidence so customers can understand what is happening on that machine.
• While the company initially started with law enforcement in mind, they have now expanded to include enterprise products. Tinaztepe discusses the types of customers they serve and their sectors.
• Tinaztepe talks about where they fit in the industry saying they are a cyber resilience company rather than a cybersecurity company. He tells us that Binalyze provides platforms for you to investigate, understand, and respond to these alerts, some of which are false positive elimination and others real case investigations.
• Binalyze currently operates from 10 countries with customers in the US, Europe, and APAC. Tinaztepe tells us about his background in endpoint security about how being involved in high-profile investigations with their advisors from law enforcement backgrounds formed the premise for Binalyze.
• Security is shifting from not just securing code but also the employees. Tinaztepe discusses how the industry has shifted toward a mindset of proactive investigations, whether they are compromised or not. He talks about why it is important for enterprises to continuously be patrolling the environment.
• Tinaztepe talks about where the responsibility lies with security saying it falls on the security operation center (SOC) or if you are working with a managed security service provider (MSSP), then the responsibility falls with them. He talks about the likenesses between the SOC for security and CI/CD for engineering and the role of automation.
• Security is not just a product but also a process and Tinaztepe emphasizes the need for enterprises to run continuous compromised assessments rather than waiting for an alert or incident. He talks about this proactive approach and why it is preferable in today’s security landscape.
• Tinaztepe talks about the evolution of security from the days when you would purchase a product, deploy it, and then feel safe to today’s more challenging environment. He feels that security nowadays starts with a mindset, which in turn leads to a process change in an enterprise.
• Tinaztepe believes that more awareness is needed in immature enterprises since they are primarily the ones who have suffered breaches in the past. For this reason, he does not feel full adoption is there yet.
• Some of the roadblocks for adoption are down to the understanding and awareness level but consolidation of tools and platforms is a key challenge not just for enterprises but the industry as a whole and budget constraints. Tinaztepe discusses how the economic downturn has affected things.
• Tinaztepe talks about Binalyze’s solution and its deployment models: in clouds, on prem, and isolated. He tells us that it has been nicknamed the ‘James Webb telescope of Cyber Resilience’ due to its level of visibility.
• Tinaztepe explains that just because you have cybersecurity products does not mean you are automatically safe. He talks about Binalyze’s role in increasing the awareness of this mindset. He talks about their competitors who are mainly from law enforcement backgrounds and what sets them apart.
• Binalyze has raised more than $30 million in three rounds and Tinaztepe shares some of the key moments of their journey so far, including onboarding two major banks. He discusses their plans to use the visibility as a baseline for building new products and use cases.
• Tinaztepe gives his take on the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA)and he discusses how the company’s European headquarters location stands them in good stead with lots of unicorns driving innovation and enabling them to take advantage of the well-defined European laws.

This summary was written by Emily Nicholls.