Josh Ray is the founder and CEO of Blackwire Labs, bringing over 24 years of expertise in combating superior cyber threats throughout industrial, non-public, public, and army sectors. As a U.S. Navy veteran and cybersecurity govt, Ray has persistently constructed and led high-performing groups to guard crucial networks and organizations. His profession consists of key roles at Accenture Safety, Verisign, Raytheon, and the Workplace of Naval Intelligence, the place he drove innovation and constructed capabilities to defend among the world’s largest organizations towards a myriad of superior cyber adversaries.
Josh’s mix of technical experience and enterprise acumen has been instrumental in driving progress and innovation within the cybersecurity {industry}. As CEO of Blackwire Labs, Ray leads the corporate’s mission to construct trusted and professional AI cybersecurity options, leveraging his intensive expertise to navigate the complicated intersection of expertise, safety, and enterprise.
Are you able to share what impressed you to begin Blackwire Labs? What particular challenges in cybersecurity have been you hoping to handle with this enterprise?
The three of us – myself, Chris Clark CTO, and Andrew Maloney CCO – got here collectively as a result of we noticed organizations fighting the identical problem: they want AI to execute towards enterprise goals and defend towards subtle threats. Nonetheless, the catch is they can not belief or implement present options successfully. Collectively we now have constructed safety merchandise and capabilities for among the world’s largest enterprises, we noticed firsthand how smaller organizations face the identical superior threats however lack entry to the experience they want. We saved desirous about all of the organizations that could not afford massive safety groups however nonetheless wanted safety. We really wish to assist organizations of all sizes however we actually wish to construct one thing significant that makes trusted expert-level cybersecurity capabilities accessible, not simply the elite few.
Your profession spans the army, public, and personal sectors in cybersecurity. How did every of those experiences affect your imaginative and prescient for Blackwire?
We have now a duty to serve and shield these organizations that type the spine of our society. Every sector actually has taught me one thing important about what we actually have to construct belief and improve cyber resilience. On the Workplace of Naval Intelligence and supporting JTF-GNO, I realized firsthand the criticality of getting the proper set of experience on the proper time, particularly whenever you’re defending networks that shield our warfighters and nationwide safety.
At Raytheon and later at iDefense, I noticed how the non-public sector was grappling with more and more subtle threats, lots of the identical varieties that I noticed throughout my time within the DoD. What grew to become clear was that having siloed deep experience wasn’t sufficient – you wanted to have the ability to scale that data successfully throughout a corporation. This actually hit residence after I was main Accenture’s International Cyber Protection Observe, the place we have been defending among the world’s most focused networks and the explosion of third occasion threat and provide chain assaults.
However this is what bothers me: Whereas the biggest organizations may afford to construct strong safety operations, numerous others have been left weak and the humorous factor is that they sit within the provide chain of these massive organizations. I noticed small companies, healthcare suppliers, and state businesses fighting the identical superior threats however with out entry to the experience they wanted. That is actually what drove us to begin Blackwire Labs. We needed to take all the things we might realized about constructing capabilities and defending organizations on the highest ranges and make it accessible to organizations that want it most. By combining trusted AI with human experience, we will help bridge that hole. It isn’t nearly constructing one other safety device – it is about delivering at scale the form of expert-level cybersecurity capabilities that I’ve seen make the distinction between a resilient safety posture and a devastating breach.
Blackwire Labs combines expert-vetted AI insights with blockchain integrity by TrustWire. Might you stroll us by how this fusion enhances the reliability of your cybersecurity insights?
We took a realistic and modern strategy. We have constructed a series of belief that begins with our Cybersecurity Neighborhood of Excellence (CCOE) – seasoned professionals who collaborate with us to validate and improve our data base. We use a rigorous three-tier supply analysis framework grounded in intelligence analytical tradecraft. However primarily based on Chris’s expertise within the crypto house we’re in a position to take it to the following stage. That is the place TrustWire is available in – our blockchain-based system that creates an immutable, cryptographically verifiable file of all our sources and AI outputs. Utilizing zero-knowledge proofs, we are able to show the integrity of our insights whereas defending delicate information. Consider it as combining the perfect of human experience with cryptographic certainty. One other crucial element of this strategy is our Safety Registry, which captures point-in-time snapshots of all cybersecurity analyses, together with insights, sources, the person desires to save lots of. Consider it like a system of file that gives a everlasting, shareable file of your safety decision-making course of – one thing important for explaining to your boss why you probably did one thing on the subject of audits, compliance evaluations, and the incident response course of.
Lexi, Blackwire’s AI, presents predictive prompting and customised steering. How does this characteristic set assist safety groups anticipate threats extra successfully?
Like most issues in life, understanding “what” the proper query is and “how” to ask it’s key. Our predictive prompting is not nearly suggesting subsequent steps – it is about enhancing human experience. The system understands your position, your group’s context, and your safety goals to information you towards more practical evaluation throughout a strategic, operational or tactical “select your individual journey”, as Andrew calls it, set of prompts. It means that you can get extra detailed insights quicker by with the ability to account for a number of factors of view that may differ relying on the organizational position (Suppose CISO/CTO- Strategic, incident responder/threat supervisor Operational, safety engineer/SOC analyst- Tactical). It’s like having a seasoned safety professional that may put on a number of hats, trying over your shoulder, anticipating what you want to think about subsequent. However with out the black field selections or sources that may change or result in lifeless hyperlinks.
Blackwire is described as being “safe by design.” Are you able to elaborate on the precise measures that make your platform enterprise-grade?
Every thing from our structure to our AI strategy is designed with enterprise-grade safety and belief in thoughts. Our CTO Chris has been doing this his complete profession and is adamant about this. Let me break this down virtually. At its core, our structure ensures full information isolation between organizations, with strict tenant separation and configurable retention insurance policies. We’re adamant about information privateness – we by no means prepare on buyer information or queries, and all the things operates on a private-by-default foundation. Consider it like operating your individual safe enclave inside our platform.
For entry management, we have applied enterprise-grade authentication with granular RBAC and MFA help. Every API key will be scoped exactly to particular permissions, giving organizations full management over how their groups work together with the platform. We have paired this with complete audit logging and safety monitoring, creating immutable information for compliance and safety evaluations.
What makes our strategy distinctive is how we have constrained our AI fashions particularly to cybersecurity domains whereas sustaining full transparency. While you ask Blackwire Labs about baking a cake it’ll say, “I can not construct a cake however constructing a SOC requires a layered strategy, would you want to speak about that?” It’s because we have applied very purposeful constraints. Each response should reference validated sources by our three-tier framework, and our Safety Registry creates everlasting, verifiable information of all analyses and selections. This is not nearly “checking a field” safety features – it is about constructing a platform that safety practitioners can belief.
Blackwire Labs locations a robust emphasis on being user-configurable. What particular customizations can shoppers leverage to suit their distinctive safety wants?
Along with what I spoke about earlier with predictive prompting and contextcraft, we’re creating capabilities for organizations to securely leverage their proprietary information alongside our trusted cybersecurity insights. The place customers can incorporate their particular enterprise context – whether or not that is inner insurance policies, structure documentation, or industry-specific necessities whereas sustaining information privateness and belief. This ensures their delicate information by no means leaves their surroundings whereas nonetheless offering complete, tailor-made solutions. Take into consideration a healthcare supplier needing to align safety practices with HIPAA necessities, or a protection contractor working inside CMMC frameworks. They’ll combine their compliance documentation and inner insurance policies whereas leveraging our broader cybersecurity experience. The secret is that every one of this stays cryptographically verifiable by TrustWire, sustaining our dedication to transparency and belief.
How does Blackwire Labs’ “Service First” philosophy, rooted in your army background, form your strategy to buyer relationships and cybersecurity options?
Our “Service First” philosophy runs deeper than simply buyer relationships – it is rooted in our faith-based ethos of servant management. This implies each choice we make begins with how we are able to greatest serve our neighborhood and shield organizations that want our assist.
We’ve all grown up on this mission house, we perceive the challenges safety groups face as a result of we have lived them. We have walked in our customers’ footwear. We’re constructing options we’d have needed ourselves. The safety neighborhood is small – everybody’s about one diploma separated from one another and popularity issues quite a bit. That is why we took a practitioner-to-practitioner strategy, bringing in design companions, advisors and beta customers (which ultimately changed into the CCOE) early to check our assumptions. We needed a lot of of us within the boat with us early and infrequently. “This product is constructed for you, assist us make it actually helpful.”
We additionally understand how safety professionals are skeptical of distributors and in lots of circumstances rightfully so. That is why we concentrate on fixing actual issues fairly than advertising hype. When our customers inform us one thing wants to vary, we hear and act. This tight suggestions loop with our neighborhood, mixed with our dedication to service, helps us keep grounded and centered on what really issues.
Cybersecurity is a fast-evolving subject. What methods does Blackwire Labs use to remain on the forefront of {industry} developments and threats?
Our strategy attracts from confirmed methodologies, significantly ones our CTO Chris Clark applied at Palo Alto Networks in establishing their world menace R&D functionality. Somewhat than making an attempt to gather huge quantities of doubtless unreliable information, we have developed a scalable, environment friendly system for data administration and menace intelligence.
We have applied a complicated triage system the place queries that do not meet our standards for being absolutely answered or sourced undergo each automated and handbook overview processes. This creates a robust community impact the place gaps are addressed and data turns into obtainable to all customers. If our system cannot present a passable reply, it routinely triggers an inner overview.
What makes this strategy distinctive is our concentrate on high quality over amount. Our CCOE members, who characterize varied industries and roles from CISOs to vulnerability researchers, assist validate our data base and fill experience gaps. By protecting normal areas comprehensively, we are able to concentrate on edge circumstances and rising challenges that actually require specialised data.
The secret is transparency – as I discussed earlier than our system is designed to confess when it does not have a solution, which then prompts our staff to fill that data hole. Typically, it is merely a matter of rephrasing the query (or utilizing the Lexi sensible prompting to routinely create a extra nuanced immediate that the person may not have the power to create), which we are able to rapidly handle. This strategy permits us to scale whereas sustaining excessive requirements for accuracy and reliability.
With the rise of Web3, quantum, and house applied sciences, how is Blackwire positioning itself to handle cybersecurity in these rising domains?
We discuss to and get recommendation from a number of of us smarter than us. We’re blessed to have advisors who’re luminaries within the expertise and safety house like Matt Devost and Bob Gourley from OODA. They’ve shared insights and evaluation with us on these subjects and lots of others. We’re additionally lucky to collaborate intently with of us like Rick Howard and his Cyber Cannon mission – these are of us that many in the neighborhood look to so as to perceive what’s subsequent. These are of us who’re members of our CCOE but additionally mentors to me. The truth that we have all been doing this for a very long time and nonetheless have a really sturdy skilled community, many who I think about shut associates, are safety executives that assist us handle each the right here and now issues and what’s subsequent. What makes this strategy highly effective is the way it informs our platform’s evolution. Whereas Web3, quantum, and house applied sciences are thrilling frontiers, we’re centered on constructing a basis of belief that may adapt to those rising domains. Our TrustWire expertise, as an example, already leverages blockchain and zero-knowledge proofs – core Web3 applied sciences – to make sure information integrity and privateness.
However extra importantly, we have constructed our platform to be adaptable. We constantly combine new insights and experience as these applied sciences evolve. It isn’t about chasing each new pattern – it is about having the proper experience and trusted framework to judge and reply to rising threats throughout any area after which assist our shoppers operationalize the proper answer.
What are your long-term targets for Blackwire Labs, and the way do you envision its position in the way forward for AI-driven cybersecurity?
Our long-term imaginative and prescient goes past simply constructing a profitable firm – we wish to essentially change how organizations strategy cybersecurity within the AI period. We wish to do good and champion reality. We’re working to democratize entry to expert-level cybersecurity capabilities whereas guaranteeing that AI adoption does not compromise safety or belief. We imagine the way forward for cybersecurity lies in combining human experience with reliable AI, and we’re positioning Blackwire Labs to guide that transformation. However we’ll do it thoughtfully, staying true to our rules of transparency, humility, belief, and repair to our prospects.
Thanks for the good interview, readers who want to study extra ought to go to Blackwire Labs.
