Every company, no matter what size
or industry, has recognized the need for security measures. But what
should be put in place if the threat is coming from down the hall?
Mountain View-based Reconnex was formed to answer
that question. CEO Don Massaro talks about starting from scratch, and
shutting the back door.
How did Reconnex get started?
Last May, I literally moved cars out of my
garage in Atherton, Calif., went to Home Depot to buy lumber for a table
where we set up four computers, moved in two old leather couches and
there you have it-I started my fifth venture-backed company. From the
outset, I pulled together a group of professionals with a long-standing
history and positive reputation in the security space. They were all
committed to finding a solution that addressed the next wave in
information security-the insider threat. In the process of getting
funding, I was introduced to Ratinder Ahuja, now our CTO, who had a
similar vision but his experience was in building high-speed content
switches. We immediately realized the positive synergism we would have
if we combined his engineering expertise with our expertise in sales and
marketing.
Why do you feel there's a need for what you provide?
There is a huge
need right now for companies to protect their confidential information.
If they haven't done so already, every CEO should sit down with their
Chief Information Security Officer or CIO and ask one important
question: What are we doing to stop confidential information from
leaking out the backdoor of our network? Companies need to monitor their
IT networks and immediately recognize when critical/confidential
information has left corporate networks to stop the damage before it's
too late. And on the flip side, they need solutions that can address
all the legal fallout issues from internal security breaches if they do
occur.
With so many network security options available, what makes you unique?
Reconnex is different from the other security vendors because we focus
on the insider threat. Our approach to address this threat is unique
because we built a hardware appliance designed for gigabit network
performance and scalability. No one has thought of building a plug and
play hardware appliance with the capability to reconstruct the
information flowing over the corporate network to make a positive
identification on things like intellectual property exposures. The
Reconnex appliance allows administrators to examine the actual content
that is transmitted by internal personnel and provides them with a
contextual understanding of suspicious activity, so that they can verify
malicious or accidental behavior that puts the company at risk. In
addition, it provides legal grade evidence that can help them
successfully pursue legal action against wrong-doers.
What kind of reaction do you get from customers about your products?
Our
customers are actually shocked when they realize that within seconds of
turning the appliance on they see their confidential information flowing
out of their network unprotected. They see credit card numbers, privacy
data, resumes and communication with competitors in the first 24 to 48
hours. What we hear over and over again is, "The problem was worse then
we thought." Many of our customers are information security officers who
have been unable to sleep at night because they feared this type of
information was leaving their networks but they couldn't see; they
couldn't confirm it. By using our solution, the can see the risks and
address them head-on in the first 48 hours.
Do you know a Bay Area company we should cover? Let us know about it.
Send your local profile candidates to Elizabeth Millard at emillard@computeruser.com.
