Proofpoint CEO on Thwarting Post-Compromise Lateral Movement

Network
Detection
&
Response
,

Next-Generation
Technologies
&
Secure
Development
,

Security
Operations

Ashan
Willy
on
Helping
Clients
Spot
Hacker
Techniques
Insider
Their
Own
4
Walls


Michael
Novinson
(MichaelNovinson)
•

February
3,
2023
 
 

Proofpoint
has
long
focused
on
preventing
cyberattacks,
but
customers
have
increasingly
asked
for
help
with
blocking
lateral
movement
from
compromised
identities,
says
CEO
Ashan
Willy.

See
Also:

Live
Webinar
|
Navigating
the
Difficulties
of
Patching
OT

The
acquisition
of
Illusive
in
December
will
help
Proofpoint
both
block
identity
attack
paths
when
a
user
is
compromised
and
identify
the
specific
attacks
an
adversary
plans
to
use
via
deception
technology.
Willy
says
Illusive
remains
undefeated
across
150
different
red-teaming
attacks.
Adding
that
signal
to
the
ones
Proofpoint
already
has
will
help
customers
spot
attacker
techniques
inside
their
own
four
walls,
he
says
(see:


Proofpoint
to
Buy
Deception
Firm
Illusive,
Boost
Offerings).

“We
do
some
very
extensive
analysis
when
we
make
acquisitions,
and
Illusive’s
tech
stack
is
an
excellent
tech
stack,”
Willy
says.
“When
you
do
proof
of
concepts
against
other
players,
we’ve
seen
a
high
win
rate.
We’ve
talked
to
a
lot
of
large
customers
who
use
Illusive
and
said
that
they’ve
done
detailed
bake-offs.
As
a
product
itself,
Illusive
works
very
well
independently
on
its
own.”

In
this
video
interview
with
Information
Security
Media
Group,
Willy
also
discusses:

• Why
  it’s
  so
  important
  to
  have
  visibility
  into
  compromised
  supplier
  accounts;
• What
  sets
  Proofpoint’s
  approach
  to
  supply
  chain
  security
  apart
  from
  rivals;
• How
  Proofpoint
  deals
  with
  being
  both
  a
  partner
  and
  competitor
  of
  Microsoft.

Willy
has
led
Proofpoint

since
March
2022.
He
directs
a
global
workforce
of
more
than
4,000
employees
focused
on
defending
organizations
from
advanced
threats
and
compliance
risks
by
protecting
their
people.
He
has
more
than
25
years
of
leadership
experience
in
sales,
channel
development,
engineering,
product
management,
customer
success
and
worldwide
go-to-market
strategy
across
global
markets.
Prior
to
joining
Proofpoint
in
December
2016,
Willy
led
teams
at
Cisco,
Webex,
Juniper
and
Polycom.

About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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