Think like a criminal for the best defense
ReaQta revolutionizes the asymmetric dynamics between attackers and defenders with the power of AI
 

The word intelligence has double meanings for Alberto Pelliccione. As Co-founder and CEO of endpoint security provider ReaQta, he was previously a researcher in AI and familiar with turning data into intelligence. But Pelliccione also worked in the intelligence sector as malware reserve engineer. It is the combination of these experiences and insights inspired him to start endpoint security company ReaQta.
 
“The idea came from being a threat actor in the intelligence sector,” said Pelliccione in his recent visit to Hong Kong. With seven years of experience running offensive security for the government, Pelliccione worked on thousands of operations hacking into criminal networks and supporting national security. 

“We were hacking for good cause,” he said. “It gave me great insights about how criminal works and understand how to develop a good strategy for defense. This is where the idea of ReaQta was born.”

Criminal Networks VS Enterprise Networks
Pelliccione said one of the major differences between attacking into criminal networks and enterprise networks is the way these organizations are operated. Most criminal organizations operate with a decentralized infrastructure. 

“When you take down one point of the structure, pretty much nothing gets banned, so this structure is naturally very resilient,” he said.

In the contrast, enterprises operate in a much tighter manner. Running an enterprise is about driving efficiency through standardization and sharing of resources, which creates a bigger impact to the organization when the weakest link is being compromised.

Through the understanding of how attackers think and operate together with his expertise in AI, Pelliccione and his team designed ReaQta-Hive, an AI-powered endpoint security platform. Aiming to bring effective and simpler ways to defend, ReaQta-Hive is a single console that detects, responds, and protects organizations from breaches.

“After thousands of intelligence operations, I’ve a good understanding on how to proceed as a defender, and make the life of the defenders easier,” he said.

The Power of AI
Pelliccione noted there is an asymmetric dynamic between attackers and defenders in the field of cyber security, where the defenders have a harder and more time-consuming job.
 
“Attackers only need to be successful once, but the defenders have to always win,” he said. 

With attackers always inventing new tools and finding new ways to target enterprises, defenders are constantly playing catchup. But the power of AI is expected to change this dynamic. 

The continuous self-learning capability of AI can identify new threats from the endpoints, protecting them from threats without requiring any daily updates. Equipped with this AI capabilities, ReaQta-Hive automatically alerts any active or emerging threats without prior knowledge of the attacks.

If new threats are detected, Pelliccione said ReaQta-Hive can also analyze the threat impact and provide remediation guidance with click-through response automation, allowing defenders to easily respond and contain any situation within seconds.

“We are one of the first to combine deep learning with behavioral analytics to perform cyber threat-hunting,” he said.

The company has also achieved top results in the MITRE Engenuity ATT&CK Evaluations last year. Pelliccione added the recent threat analysis of Log4Shell is an example that demonstrates the capability of ReaQta-Hive to detect and defend new attacks quickly and efficiently.

A play on “re acta”
The speed to react towards emerging threats is the rationale behind the company’s name ReaQta, according to Pelliccione.

He said the company name ReaQta is a play on the Latin word “re acta”, meaning “to react”. ReaQta aims to provide real-time reaction towards emerging cyber threats to make lives easier for defenders around the world.

As an evangelist to this mission, Pelliccione started the company in Europe and has recently extended its global reach to Asia and Greater China. In his recent visit to Hong Kong, Pelliccione said the market is one of the most prepared cities in the region for cyberattacks. Despite more sophisticated attacks coming from Asia, he said more Hong Kong companies have evolved to better react to threats.

“Companies in general are becoming more aware and better prepared,” he said. “It’s also growing and getting better by the day, thankfully.”

Supporting the company’s expansion in Hong Kong is its foundational partner Data World Computer & Communication. With an established presence in Hong Kong as value-added distributor, Data World is also expanding its endpoint security product portfolio. 

“They have the knowledge, network and the will to expand into this industry,” he said. “They were pretty much a perfect partner for us.” 

Moving forward, Pelliccione said the company will continue to strengthen the capabilities of ReaQta-Hive. Previously, ReaQta launched the industry’s first AI-powered alert management system, Cyber Assistant and in January 2022, ReaQta unveiled a brand new user interface of Cyber Assistant, as part of ReaQta-Hive 3.7. 

Cyber Assistant is a powerful autonomous alerts management system that alleviates analyst alert fatigue by reducing false positives by more than 80%. ReaQta pioneers its latest technology in automations to increase ROI, boost team efficiency and improve alert accuracy.

In addition, ReaQta’s near-term roadmap is expanding into the extended detection and response (XDR) space, enabling its AI capabilities to collect and analyze data from multiple security products for delivering enhanced security threat detection and response. 

"Our mission at ReaQta has been to better equip the defenders, who are tirelessly striving to stay ahead of cyber threats, with advanced technology to quickly identify and block new attacks," said Pelliccione.