October 22, 2024
Shlomo Kramer, CEO, Cato Networks
How Israel’s Godfather Of Cybersecurity Battles Looming AI Threats, Shlomo Kramer – CEO Cato Networks
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With cybercrime damages estimated to cost the world $15-20 trillion by 2028—none of us are safe from its impact. The Godfather of Israeli Cybersecurity, Shlomo Kramer – CEO of Cato Networks, joins us for this episode of The Reboot Chronicles to unpack why the next generation of cyber security will be SASE technology.
Shlomo was a seed investor and board member of industry giant Palo Alto Networks, writing their first investment check. He co-founded both Check Point and Imperva, taking both companies public—and has raised $771 million at Cato, which was last valued at over $3 billion. Speaking of going public, Cato has been on a growth tear, recently doubling revenues with a massive ecosystem of thousands of enterprise clients and partners who they protect.
Listen in to this riveting episode about the cyber wars that are attacking our organizations, governments, and families, how to make our digital experience safer, and whether there should be a Geneva Convention for cyber-attacks.
The Need For Better Cybersecurity
Cato Networks has seen impressive growth over this past year, in 2023 Cato reported a 59% growth in revenue compared to 2022, according to their reports. Shlomo listed some of the reasons why this is the case, one of them being that “ data breaches in these [last] four years grew almost 50%” and companies are spending more on cybersecurity. So they “spend more, and are less secure.” a sure sign that something is broken. This requires some new form of innovation that eases the pains these companies are feeling, which is exactly where Cato comes in to save the day and grow as a company.
State Sponsored Cyber Threats and Wars
When it comes to protection from outside forces, typically we have seen a team effort from both citizens and the government, at least in the physical world. We as citizens can protect ourselves as needed from certain threats, and the government will protect us from things like tanks, airplanes, and other large-scale threats. There is also the Geneva Convention for a list of rules for armed conflicts if those arise. There are no such systems in place when it comes to Cybersecurity or Cyberwarfare. As Shlomo says “What is allowed and what is not allowed? What is an act of war and what is not legitimate?” Currently there is no definition, but there ought to be, especially as “every new invention is first weaponized” notes Shlomo.
Getting Your Board Involved In Security Governance
Since Cybersecurity is something that affects every company from the base-level employees to the C-suite to the board members, we wanted to learn what board members should be thinking about and asking to be better fiduciaries. Shlomo notes that most companies already have systems in place, that if transformed for cybersecurity could be useful. These systems involve the company’s pre-existing milestones, deliverables, and KPI systems that they use to show progress in an easy way that anyone can understand. “Boards need to demand to see that quantification,” says Shlomo, and through those systems is a way to quantify, the “complicated and so nuanced” cybersecurity, without it going over too many heads.