Crunch is Getting Started: What We’re Seeing in Cyber Defense
As the year comes to a close, I wanted a place to write honestly about the gaps we continue to see in cyber security. Sean McQuade and I witnessed these same gaps being exploited firsthand. We initially observed this threat landscape unfold over decades during our time as military operators within the national security apparatus. After founding CrunchAtlas and getting into industry, we’ve once again seen the same threat picture remain at center stage, this time from within commercial environments.
We’ve validated our observations and concerns via countless site surveys and conversations with partners and customers from within the critical infrastructure industry. Our time connecting with the field and see’ing how things our on the ground, helped paint a clear picture of the current reality: cyber offense capability is scaling at an exponentially faster rate than the current cyber defense culture can keep pace with. Even most recently we’ve seen validation through the mainstream media, which is just beginning to catch on and make these threats part of popular culture and the public conversation. Here’s a link to a recent 60-Minute episode highlighting our reality - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-hacking-us-critical-infrastructure-retired-general-tim-haugh-warns-60-minutes-transcript/
So where is our cyber defense posture as a society through all of this? In Crunch’s opinion, too often, we’ve found cybersecurity buried under dashboards and compliance culture that create the illusion of control for stakeholders, and sometimes even for defenders, without actually fixing the problem.
I’m often asked what makes CrunchAtlas different from the large, well-known vendors already operating in this space. It’s a fair question, especially coming from executives who aren’t in the trenches defending networks day to day, or from organizations that rely heavily on outsourced vendors who confidently claim they can do it all. What’s often missing in those conversations, in my view, is an honest discussion about what is and isn’t working in practice.
Our vision at CrunchAtlas is straightforward. At Crunch, we build what actually matters to get the job done. We focus on real operational challenges. Full stop. With that mindset, we’ve seen and uncovered a lot this year out in industry. This blog is meant to be a place where we share what we’re seeing in the field, what we’re learning as we build alongside our customers and partners, and how we believe the next generation of cyber defense needs to evolve to keep pace with an increasingly adaptive adversary. Much of what we’re building at CrunchAtlas is a direct result of those conversations and shared experiences in the field.
We hope this section will be helpful, and a resource. I’m looking forward to hearing from those of you in the field. Our most valuable resource is the community of defenders we work alongside with everyday. Our deepest gratitude is with our teammates, and colleagues doing the work to keep our systems safer as this next wave of threats continues to accelerate.
- Ben Faberlle, CEO, CrunchAtlas Inc.
