An Interview with Sachin Nayyar, Securonix Founder and CEO: ‘We’re Working to Radically Transform All Areas of Data Security with Actionable Security Intelligence’

“We’re rewriting the rules to deliver on the promise of next-generation SIEM — we’ve pioneered and we’re leading the market.”

Along with geospace, aquaspace, and space, cyberspace is now a contested arena, and its use as a digital battleground to wage digital warfare is rapidly growing. This rapidly shifting landscape of warfare — where emerging cyberweapons have become potentially more deadly than real battlefield weapons — is becoming a cause of concern.

Keeping up with the rapidly intensifying complexity of uncontrolled warfare in cyberspace is a challenge facing not only a nation’s military but also individuals and entities across nations: including government, industries, organizations, and academia (NGIOA).

In light of the foregoing, we’re thrilled to present Securonix.

Securonix is redefining the nextgeneration of cyber-threat detection using the power of machine learning and big data. Its purpose-built security analytics solution uses machine learning to track and create baselines for user, account, and system behavior and detects the most advanced insider threats, cyber threats, and fraud activities in realtime. Securonix extends threat detection with threat hunting and automated incident response. Globally, customers use Securonix to address their insider threat, cyber threat, cloud security, fraud, and application security monitoring requirements.

The company was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Addison, Texas.

Sachin Nayyar, Securonix Founder/CEO, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review. Below is an excerpt.

Why was the company set up?

Securonix was created with a vision to provide the best defense against advanced threats by leveraging the power of machine learning, identity context, and big data.

How successful was your first project roll on? Share the experience.

The first project roll-on was a joint collaboration with a customer. The focus of the project was to narrow down the root of the problem with existing legacy tools and then develop use cases to address the challenge. The problem statement was to address the challenge of detecting insider threats in a complex fortune 50 company.

The experience involved a lot of learning and maturing, along with great feedback from the customer. We experienced bumps in the road; however, once the implementation was complete, the customer loved the results and is still a Securonix customer over 10 years later.

What kind of responses have you received from your consumers over the years? How have they motivated you to shape your offerings/grow the company?

At Securonix, we believe in collaborating with our customers. We treat them as our partners. Feedback from customers has helped us shape our product, our team, and our company overall. The toughest feedback has resulted in most learning.

What challenges did you face in your initial years? What can your peers learn from it?

Securonix started with a great idea. However, once you engage with the customer, you need to have the ability to pivot and adjust. Finding the balance between innovation and solution stability is also something we had to find along the way.

The key to success is to listen to your customers, make adjustments based on feedback, and continue to innovate.

“Earning trust and respect of consumers all around the world is through consistent focus on delivering high quality in all of our actions.” How do you interpret this statement?

Securonix is all about customer success. If your customers are not happy, you don’t have a company. So, I agree with the statement the happy customers make a successful company.

Fostering a culture of feedback is crucial to the success of every organization. How is this true with your company?

Feedback from customers is extremely important at Securonix. The ability to understand customer needs and incorporate requirements into the product roadmap enables us to stay focused and continue to innovate.

If you had to list five factors that have been/are the biggest asset to your organization, what would they be and why?

Employees – Your employees make your company. Having the right talent, nurturing it, and providing employees with a path to grow within the company is critical. It is like a family.

Innovation – Securonix has always taken pride in disrupting traditional approaches using an innovative approach to leveraging the latest in technology. Adversaries use sophisticated technology. The security tools used to catch them cannot fall behind.

Technology – Securonix is a technology-first company. We believe that if you have the right product you will solve customer problems and grow your business.

Customers – We treat customers as partners. We invest in them and they invest in us and our vision. This is what helps us innovate and grow to take on the most complex security challenges.

Culture – We have a flat hierarchy. Everyone in the company is treated equally and high performers are rewarded and encouraged. The goal is not just to grow the company but to also build careers and provide our employees with a path to become future entrepreneurs, CEOs, etc.

Customer service varies, but companies can still be successful. How do you maintain your customers’ trust and loyalty?

By solving their problems and making them successful in accomplishing their goals. Customer service can be challenging and expectations can be unrealistic, but if you invest in the relationship the customer will know you have their back. At Securonix we are obsessed with customer success and customer escalations are taken very seriously and addressed as quickly as possible.

What do you feel are the reasons behind your company’s reputation?

The first reason is our focus on our customers and the joint success we have enjoyed. The second reason is our passion for innovation and challenging the norm.

How does your company contribute to the global IT platform?

Our mission is to create a safe and secure digital environment for our customers. To do so, we are continuously investing in research and collaborating with industry experts, customers, and partners to find new ways to stay ahead of the bad guys.

Do you have any new products ready to be/getting ready to be launched?

Yes, we just launched two new products.

Securonix SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response) – The goal for this product is to infuse machine learning to simplify and speed up the incident response process so organizations can rapidly respond to threats.

Securonix NTA (Network Traffic Analytics) – The goal for this product is to monitor not just logs but also network traffic in order to detect advanced threats that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Where do you see your company a couple of years from now?

We are on a great path. Securonix started as a UEBA company, a space we innovated and have been the pioneer in. In 2017, Securonix entered the SIEM market as the most visionary solution, disrupting a $3.6B industry. Within one year, in 2018, Gartner rated Securonix as one of the leaders in the SIEM space in their 2018 Magic Quadrant report.

In two years, we see 100 percent growth for our company. That will open several doors for us including going IPO.

Sachin Nayyar:

A Formidable Leader

Sachin Nayyar drives the vision and overall business strategy for Securonix. Previously, he was the founder and CEO of VAAU where he led the company from conception until its acquisition by Sun Microsystems. Following the acquisition by Sun Microsystems, Sachin served as Chief Identity Strategist for Sun Microsystems where he led the vision and strategy for the Sun Microsystems security portfolio. Sachin is a renowned thought leader in the areas of risk, regulations, compliance, identity and access, and governance and speaks frequently at professional conferences and seminars.

“Our mission is to create a safe and secure digital environment for our customers. To do so, we are continuously investing in research and collaborating with industry experts, customers, and partners to find new ways to stay ahead of the bad guys.”