Being the highest-ranking individual in an organization and responsible for the overall success and activity of a business is not an easy role to play. Meet Tarique Mustafa, Founder and CEO at GhangorCloud, Inc., a Cybersecurity expert with demonstrated extraordinary innovative abilities in the areas of information security.

As an experienced Cybersecurity business leader, he believes professional integrity and excellence are the most important values. Especially in a crucial domain such as Cyber Security which is inherently fraught with known and unknown vulnerabilities, utmost vigilance and honesty are quintessential. He further adds partial or ineffective solutions must not be peddled as a panacea. Too many less than effective solutions have already flooded the industry and that has in turn damaged the confidence of the security practitioners.

Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Insights Success and Tarique Mustafa:

Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a cybersecurity expert.

I started my professional career after graduating from the University of Southern California where I was a Rotary International Scholar in Engineering and Computer Science. My first job was with Symantec Corporation in the world headquarters Silicon Valley California, where I was in a lead position spearheading product lines. This experience laid down the foundation for my career in Cyber Security. Over the last 25 years, I have had the opportunity of working in leadership roles where I built Cyber Security systems and products from the ground up, several of those products have won industry recognition as the leading Cyber Security products. During the course of my career, I have invented several key patents and algorithms which are recognized as significant breakthrough technologies in Artificial Intelligence and Cyber thSecurity . GhangorCloud’s 4 Generation Data Leak and Exfiltration Prevention (DLEP) Cyber Security Paradigm is based on my vision of the future as Cyber Warfare keeps evolving into a more and more sophisticated challenge. This is now recognized by the industry analysts as a “paradigm shift” from the way Data Security products have been traditionally built.

How comprehensive is GhangorCloud’s cyber incident response plan? How often is it tested?

GhangorCloud’s solution called ISE (information thSecurity Enforcer) is the pioneering 4 Generation Cyber Security solution that provides robust defence against Data Leak and Exfiltration Attacks in real-time. It is recognized in the industry as the “Gold Standard” solution in this category. It embodies the full spectrum “Real-time Detect, Disable and Destroy” capability against the Insider and Outsider Exfiltration Attacks. It incorporates cutting edge technological breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence and System Theoretic Design Principles that enable Auto-Identification and Classification of Data/Information Objects, Auto-Access Control, Auto-Policy Synthesis and Auto-GRC enforcement with little to no human intervention. It is built from the ground up to thwart any Evasion Attacks that may be Zero-day or Zero-second.

What solutions are best to help mitigate the cybersecurity risks?

Cyber Warfare is becoming increasingly more challenging for the “defenders” as the Cyber Attacks increase in sophistication, speed, and stealth. Cyber Attacks are now employing advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Military Style Stealth. In order to effectively address these Cyber Threats an overhaul of the Cyber Defence Strategy and the underlying technologies is imperative. The traditional approach of “Patch-work” (or what was the “Plugging of the Dyke”) that the Cyber Security industry has traditionally employed has caused nothing but more trouble. The Cyber Defence Systems must go through a paradigm shift from the ground up. Artificial Intelligence and System Theoretic Design principles will play crucial roles in defining and delivering the Cyber Defence Systems that can measure up to future challenges in Cyber Security.

How do you achieve work-life balance?

Being the “one of a kind” epicenter for Hi-tech industry, Silicon Valley is the gravitational center for the crème de la crème of Hi-tech professionals. As such it has its own culture and life-style. Hi-tech professionals in Silicon Valley usually have the stereotype of being very workfocused. I must confess that I am the epitome of this stereotype. To me my work is my life and I enjoy every moment of it. The thrill and excitement of creating truly “cutting, bleeding-edge technology” is the aphrodisiac like none other!! I do have a couple of interesting hobbies to keep me sane – amateur competitive ballroom dancing is my favorite hobby that gives me the opportunity to keep physically active and emotionally creative. It is a great “art form” and a highly competitive sport.

What is the primal challenges cybersecurity industry is facing today?

The primal challenges are (1) very high calibre Cyberenemy who is determined and motivated to defeat Cyber Defences and inflict heavy losses on their target, (2) Unprepared and untrained users of Cyberspace who lack awareness of Cyberthreat or do not take it seriously, (3) Less than effective Cyber Defence mechanisms that often create more issues than they address.

When the primordial Internet was invented the pioneers were not thinking about security. Their spirit was more focused and driven by the “principles of Democratization”. The Internet evolved into Web, and then into Cyberspace security became increasingly more serious a challenge. Unfortunately, by then the mould of Internet’s foundational architecture was already cast and innumerable services were already built and deployed on top of it at the Web layer, without adequate security provisions. This resulted in the desperate frenzy aposteriori to address the Cybersecurity issues. Consequently, a plethora of less-than-effective security solutions emerged, many of which were half-baked and retrofit at the best. This further culminated into the “Patchwork culture” where the only resort was to deploy a never-ending cycle of “Patches” to obviate newer type and mechanisms of Cyberattacks. In order to effectively address Cybersecurity some foundational corrections and improvements must be made from ground up. Anything less than such a forklift upgrade of the Internet and Web will be in futility if addressing the Cybersecurity challenge holistically is in fact the sincere objective.

How necessary is to provide adequate education about the cybersecurity threats to employees nowadays?

As mentioned already, educating the workforce and employees about the Cyber Security threats is one of the most crucial requirements in order to be able to mitigate the vulnerability of Cyberspace. Many of the security incidents in Cyberspace can be directly attributed to human error or negligence. Through proper training and awareness many of the Cyber Security Incidents can be averted.

What are your future endeavors/objectives and where do you see yourself and the industry in the near future?

My objective is to address the Cyber Security challenge effectively and create new technologies that in fact address this lingering perpetual problem. I believe that Cyber Security can be addressed holistically through an intricate interplay of Deep Artificial Intelligence and System Theoretic Design principles.

At GhangorCloud, we strive to build Cyber Security solutions that address the Data Leak and Exfiltration Cyber Attacks in a holistic and conclusive fashion. Our ISE (Information Security Enforcer) product is built incorporating key technological breakthroughs (patented and patent-pending) in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and System Theoretic principles. Our product is recognized in the industry as the “Best of the Breed” solution in the DLEP category. We are constantly creating newer and better enabling technologies that will be incorporated in the future versions of our products.

What advice would you like to give to the emerging tech leaders?

Unfortunately, like other fields, the Cyber Security industry has also suffered due to the unconscientious and less than appropriate conduct – a manifestation of brazen greed and commercialization. My foremost advice to the emerging tech leaders would be “follow your dream of delivering better technology and solutions as long as it is not led by greed … , Don’t oversell half-baked solutions and don’t peddle snake oil under the guise of panacea. Cyber Security is a hard problem and requires out-ofthe-box thinking. Search for the right solution even if it requires a paradigm shift.

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