Safety Detectives: Please share your company background, how you got started, and your mission.
BlackFog: I founded BlackFog back in 2015 after my second software company was acquired. BlackFog is my third venture. During my time spent in the previous organization, which focused on protecting devices from loss and theft, I realized that organizations no longer cared about the device itself. In the ’90s when laptops were a large capital expense, it made sense to protect them from loss. However, as we moved to the digital age, cloud storage, cheaper mobile devices, and laptops, it was less about the device and more about the data. Corporations were now focused on digital assets, the rise of data privacy regulations, and the protection of intellectual property.
BlackFog was founded to protect these digital assets and therefore prevent data breaches, ransomware, and entirely new breeds of cyberattacks. Looking at the cybersecurity landscape and the increase in successful malicious attacks, I knew there must be a better way to prevent attacks and protect an organization’s most valuable asset—its data.
BlackFog was designed to look at the problem of protecting data and preventing cyberthreats in a new way. Rather than focusing on defensive approaches, whereby solutions try to repel the attack, BlackFog focuses on preventing any unauthorized data from leaving the device, i.e. data exfiltration. This has the benefit of neutralizing the attack before it can even get started.
Since our inception, we have successfully pioneered a new category for on-device anti-data exfiltration (ADX) technology to protect companies from global security threats such as ransomware, spyware, malware, phishing, unauthorized data collection, and profiling. Our mission is to be the preeminent solution in preventing ransomware, espionage, and cyberattacks and to protect sovereign nations’ infrastructure from attack as new wars are now being waged in cyberspace rather than traditional weapons.
SD: What is the main service your company offers?
BlackFog: We provide on-device data privacy, data security, and ransomware prevention for individuals, providers, and organizations. Our unique ADX technology stops hackers before they even get started, preventing ransomware, spyware, malware, phishing, unauthorized data collection and profiling, and mitigating the risks associated with data breaches and insider threats. BlackFog is available for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android and we also offer a Virtual CISO edition as a fully managed option for enterprise customers.
SD: What is something unique that helps you stay ahead of your competition?
BlackFog: We know that preventing today’s cyberattacks requires a new way of thinking and a new approach, as hackers intent on infiltrating a device or network will eventually get in. The challenge is preventing the attack in the first place and preventing data from being exfiltrated from the device.
Defensive cybersecurity approaches that organizations have typically relied on are ineffective at preventing today’s sophisticated cyberattacks. We are disrupting the cybersecurity market with our on-device data exfiltration technology which detects and prevents modern-day cyberattacks including ransomware. BlackFog is the only anti-data exfiltration (ADX) solution on the market today.
What do you think are the worst cyberthreats today?
Without a doubt, it’s ransomware that keeps those responsible for IT security up at night and many organizations are fighting a losing battle, despite on average having up to 10 cybersecurity solutions in their technology stack. Regardless of the type of cyberthreat, the important thing to remember is that the one thing that all cybercriminals must do is send sensitive data outside the network. If a cybercriminal cannot successfully exfiltrate data, there is no successful attack, no ransom, and no data breach. Cyberattacks today are less about disruption and more about extortion and as we see more and more attacks focussed on double and even triple extortion, preventing data exfiltration has never been more important.