CryptoGen was founded on a vision to revolutionize cybersecurity to address the rapid evolution of cyber threats with innovative solutions. Since its inception a little over a decade ago, it has grown into the largest cybersecurity-focused company, excelling in delivering security assurance during business transformations for the financial sector and many other business verticals. Wasantha Perera, Founder and Chief Executive of CryptoGen, shares insights into CryptoGen’s purpose and journey.
Can you tell us about the founding vision of CryptoGen and the company’s journey thus far?
Cyber adversaries are evolving rapidly, creating new ways to evade detection and maintain a persistent presence, and threat, on enterprise networks faster than we can detect them. From the beginning, I have been passionate about digital risks and dreamt of starting a firm dedicated to this crucial area. My impatience with how organizations traditionally managed cyber risks fuelled this ambition, and together with my initial founding members, we rolled out CryptoGen in 2013 without any backing from investors or venture capitalists. Incidentally, CryptoGen is short for Cryptographic Generations. Today, CryptoGen is the largest cybersecurity-focused company with a solid services portfolio of clients from different sectors, mainly the financial sector, with strong directions from the regulators.
Our commitment to innovation enables secure digital enablement even as the pace of change accelerates. With over 80 dedicated cybersecurity professionals, we have generated more than $4 million in revenue from cybersecurity technologies and services over the past three years. Our well-organized Cyber Défense and Coordination Centre ( in old terms, Security Operations Centre or SOC) is instrumental in detecting and responding to modern cyber adversaries at any level by staying ahead of the curve and continually delivering cutting-edge solutions to protect our clients in an ever-changing digital landscape.
How is cybersecurity emerging as a growth enabler, not just a security solution?
Integrating cybersecurity into the foundations of digital enablement is critical to ensuring business success, and more companies recognize cybersecurity as a protective measure and a sales accelerator for their businesses. It should be firmly established in the minds of leaders and employees alike as a key business enabler, with a streamlined function that navigates and manages issues efficiently, securing frequent buy-in and facing few hurdles.
Cybersecurity serves as a Survival Enabler, maintaining business operations in high-risk digital environments. It acts as a Trust Enabler, fostering confidence among customers, partners, and stakeholders. Additionally, it provides a Competitive Advantage Enabler, distinguishing businesses in a congested marketplace. At CryptoGen, our mission is to help companies realize these benefits, ensuring that cybersecurity is not just a necessity, but a strategic advantage.
How is CryptoGen helping businesses to harness the potential of technology? Explain the importance of cybersecurity in all this.
New technologies aimed at improving customer experiences, such as mobile apps and web services, also introduce new attack surfaces. The technology under the umbrella term of artificial intelligence holds enormous potential. However, businesses leveraging AI tools must address important questions about responsible use while managing the cyber risks these tools present.
To manage the attack surface created by new technologies, we emphasize continuous education for all stakeholders, including customers, on the essentials of cyber hygiene, and we guide them through building ironclad systems with extra steps to verify identity, ensuring robust security practices are in place.
On the flip side, as criminals and malicious actors also adopt AI tools and new technologies to enhance their cyber intrusion tactics, we counteract with cutting-edge, cyber-centric technologies to effectively mitigate risks. At CryptoGen, our focus is on staying ahead of these threats, ensuring our clients can leverage new technologies securely and responsibly.
How do you align your people around a common vision and foster a culture of innovation so that CryptoGen better serves its clients?
Our Cyber Risk Professionals are dedicated to delivering clarity to our clients’ most complex cybersecurity challenges and we foster a supportive and collaborative work environment that empowers our team to excel by centring everything we do around cybersecurity.
Our founders come from strong security backgrounds, not from traditional investment circles looking for quick returns through technology businesses, and we prioritize creating a knowledgeable and resilient team, ensuring that our people are equipped to navigate and mitigate the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats. This foundation makes it easy for us to adopt a cyber-centric culture, driven by knowledge and a risk-aware mindset that permeates all levels of our staff.
What are your plans for the future? Can you take us through your growth strategy and some of its critical facets?
Our strategy begins with cultivating a robust security culture focused on best practices, transparency, compliance by design, and various types of zero-trust security models where trust is never assumed.
Proper investment in the human side of cybersecurity is crucial. Without it, an organization’s reputation, trust score, and financial stability are at significant risk.
As cybersecurity evolves, the need for professionals specialized in tackling cyber threats within various sectors, including construction and engineering, will increase. Talent retention and acquisition are key, as is ensuring our team is up-to-date with the latest standards in the rapidly changing cyber landscape. As the technology world evolves rapidly, we will remain dedicated to maintaining a high standard of expertise among our cybersecurity professionals, understanding that a blend of advanced technology and skilled human intervention is essential for effective risk management to help enterprises transform and thrive in a new age.